


Lunacy

by Recourse



Series: The Night Is Ours [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, Animal Death, F/F, Ghost!Rachel, Ghoul!Max, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Internalized Homophobia, Vampire!Vic, background chasefield, chloe? chloe's doing her best., werewolf!kate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 20:55:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15227700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Recourse/pseuds/Recourse
Summary: Rachel, Max, and Victoria are all hiding something from Chloe, running out in the middle of the night and not even bothering with a convincing lie. On a stealthy midnight mission to follow them, Chloe instead ends up finding a girl running naked through the streets and covered in blood.That's how Chloe finds out all her friends are dead.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [morhdd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/morhdd/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Ramona!

They’re hiding shit from Chloe.

It’s a little insane to note that “they” includes basically all the close friends in Chloe’s life, but it sure as hell seems to be the case. Between Rachel, who’s supposed to be her girlfriend, Max, who’s supposed to be her _best_ friend, and Victoria, who’s...well, just Max’s creepy girlfriend, Chloe would only suspect the last of being a deceptive little shit, at least since Rachel got her act together. But it’s all of them, and they think she doesn’t notice.

It started last month, when Max and Vic came by at fucking midnight and asked Rachel to be their “model” all of a sudden. It’s possibly the lamest excuse they could’ve come up with, and even worse, they had _Max_ delivering the lie. Chloe would expect at least a little respect from this crew. If Vic had said it, maybe Chloe would’ve been less immediately suspicious, but Max’s tells are very obvious and have been since they were eight.

But Chloe, at the time, was already about to pass out from a combination of alcohol, weed, and incredible sex, so she’d just waved Rachel on her way and passed out. And then, because she’d accepted the initial excuse, she couldn’t just suddenly get up in their faces when they needed to do ‘dawn photography’ this time.

So now she has to make like a ninja and just follow them.

She waits until after she’s sure they’re out of the building, then hops out the fire escape of their apartment (thank God they live in an old neighborhood) and then clambers down, jumping the last few feet to the ground. The dawn is just settling in, thin blue light covering the alleyway. She listens carefully, and hears vague whispers past the overflowing dumpster that sound exactly like how Max used to whenever she tried to be quiet at a sleepover.

She’s used to getting around without being caught — years living under her stepfather made that easy — and so she tiptoes to the entrance of the alleyway, catching sight of their backs as they head down the street. She ducks quickly back into the alley, just in case one of them looks back, and tries to listen in.

“So you think it’s hunting around here?” she hears Rachel say. “I’m definitely feeling an aura of _something_ right now, but it doesn’t seem too vicious…”

Oh, great, more of Rachel’s hippie stuff. She’s gotten even more occultish over the past year. Chloe’s tried to take it with good grace, but this is ridiculous. Are they just ghost-hunting? Why not include Chloe in it? She’s always down for breaking into places.

“It’s supposed to be in this neighborhood,” Victoria confirms. “The Mystacina said they got sightings around here last month, anyway, so…”

“But we didn’t _find_ anything,” Rachel pouts. “So unfair…”

Their words turn into mush as the distance increases, and Chloe takes a brief peek to establish which way they’re going before darting back through the alley to the other side. She tries to follow their route, but a street over, only getting brief glimpses of them before dashing behind cover. She tries futilely to stuff her hair entirely under her hoodie, but she really needs to get her bangs cut. They’ll call her out in a second if they spot her.

She’s not entirely sure where they’re ending up, or where they’re going, or why they’re covering this all on foot instead of in Vic’s fancy-ass car. And she’s starting to lose track of them, and also the L.A. streets are kinda spooky right now, especially all the way out here in their not-fantastic neighborhood. But she’s determined. That shit Vic was saying didn’t make any sense at all, and besides, Chloe’s been very done with her girlfriend hiding shit from her for a _while_ now, so—

The fuck was that?

Chloe peers into the alley she just passed, listening for something else now. There’s labored breathing, wheezing, almost, and then a wet _crunch._ She realizes that that’s exactly the sort of thing she should run _away_ from right as the crunching thing rises up beyond a discarded cardboard box, and Chloe sees its silhouette. It’s short (getting shorter? Are her eyes fucked up?) and bony, chest rising and falling rapidly, and then she _bolts_ right past Chloe and Chloe very suddenly understands that she’s very naked. She runs across the street, into another alley, then stops and looks back at Chloe with wide, yellow eyes, glinting under the shadows of the church she’s right beside. Something dark spills from her mouth down her chest. She starts to hug herself and shiver, and the eyes lose the glow, and seriously what the fuck.

“Hey!” Chloe calls, snooping duty all but forgotten. “You okay?”

The girl blinks, raises a hand to her mouth, then crumples to the ground.

So that’s great.

Chloe runs over to where she fell and kneels down, frantically looking around and hoping no creepy dudes are either chasing her or looking at her like an opportunity. Luckily, the streets seem completely deserted. She looks down at the girl’s body, seeing clearly that the _something_ spilling down her front from her mouth must be blood.  Chloe’s mind races. Should she call a hospital? The cops? Rachel? Getting her off the streets is the most important thing, she decides as she zips the hoodie up. Whew. At least she’s shorter than Chloe.

Chloe gently shakes her shoulder. “Hey. Hey, you awake?”

She stirs, a soft groan in her throat, but her eyes don’t open. Chloe bites her lip. _Well, you’ve been working out for a reason, haven’t you, Price? And not just cuz Rachel thinks buff chicks are hot._

She kneels down and takes her in her arms, grunting with the lift, but thankful she seems fairly light. To her surprise, the girl wraps her arms around Chloe’s shoulders, making her burden even lighter, but she still doesn’t say anything, just gripping on like a child separated from their mother. Chloe manages to remember the way to her apartment, happy as hell to see someone heading out the door so she doesn’t have to reach for her key to be let into the building. She gets a weird look from the guy, but she just blows him off with a ‘had too much to drink’ line and bolts for the stairs, which is where she really starts struggling. The girl may be light, and Chloe may be strong, but _damn._

She stops at the door to her apartment, panting heavily, and _that’s_ when the girl finally decides to wake up, right as Chloe’s trying to figure out how the fuck to get into her apartment without just dumping her on the ground and going for her keys.

Her eyes open, and Chloe’s grateful to see they’re just green, nothing crazy like that glowing yellow she totally made up. She blinks slowly, then mumbles, “Where ‘m I?”

“Safe, sorta,” Chloe says. “Can you stand for a sec?”

“I’m—oh.” She looks down. “You’re…”

“Carrying you, yeah, can you get down now, though?”

“M-maybe, I—I don’t—”

“C’mon.” Chloe gently lowers her, feet-first, to the ground, steadying her as she wobbles. “Sorry to rush you, but I need my keys.”

“W-what happened to me?” she asks, shaking. “I...I went to bed, and I don’t remember…”

“Running naked through the streets?” Chloe suggests, then wants to hit herself in the face. Not the time for glibness. She focuses on getting her keys out of her pocket so she doesn’t put her foot in her mouth anymore.

“What?!”

“You ran past me, collapsed, and I put you in my hoodie.” The girl looks down at her body for the first time and hugs herself tight.

“Who...who are you?” she asks.

“I’m Chloe. What about you?”

“K-Kate. So you don’t know…?”

“No clue. I just...found you out there.”

“Oh, God,” Kate whispers, covering her face. Do, do you think I was...drugged? How could someone get into my room, and, and…”

She’s starting to cry. Shit. Chloe finally manages to get the door open, then turns and takes Kate’s shoulders. “Hey, hey,” she says softly. “Stay with me, okay? I don’t know what the hell happened out there, but you’re safe with me. Anything you want to do — call the cops, go to the hospital, whatever — I’ll help you out. My girlfriend will be home soon and she can help too, just...anything you need.”

“T-thank you, I…” Kate gulps, a hand going to her throat. Blood flakes off onto her fingers, and she squints at it. “What is…”

“Um.” Chloe cringes. “It kind of looks like blood?”

Kate’s eyes widen as she touches her lips, blood wiping off on her fingertips. “Oh, God,” she whispers. “I thought it was a dream…”

“What? What was a dream?”

Kate hugs herself tighter and shivers in place. She shakes her head, and Chloe decides to back off on the interrogation for now. “C’mon,” she murmurs, walking into her apartment and holding the door for Kate. Kate meekly follows in to the living room, where she takes a grateful seat on the couch and runs a hand through her hair. She starts scrubbing fretfully at the blood while Chloe leans against the kitchen counter, feeling incredibly useless until Kate looks back up at her.

“Can I...take a shower?” she asks. “I feel so gross…”

“Yeah, of course. Rachel’s got a robe you can borrow. Bathroom’s that way, robe’s hanging on the back of the door. Anything I should…”

“I know this probably sounds weird, but…” Kate rubs the back of her neck. “Do you have any tea?”

“Came to the right place, sister, Rachel’s a fanatic for herbal shit.”

Kate smiles softly at her. “Thank you. I’m sorry, I know how weird this is, but...but I don’t know what else to do right now. I can’t go back to my dorm like this…”

“I’ve got a friend around your size. Maybe she can lend you some clothes.” Chloe checks her phone and sees that it’s almost 5:30 AM. “Hopefully they’ll be back soon from _whatever_ the fuck they’re doing…”

“Okay. Thank you again.” Kate stands up and heads for the bathroom, and Chloe’s left alone in the kitchen with her thoughts. She occupies her hands getting Kate’s tea ready and then texting Rachel.

_hey uh I found a naked girl on the street and she’s cleaning up in here can you get back here please so i can figure out what the fuck to do_

Yeah. That about sums it up.

Just as she’s steeping the tea, the door to her apartment bursts open and Victoria marches in, pointing an accusing finger at Chloe. “Where the fuck is your girlfriend?” she demands, those creepy red eyes boring right into her.

“Thought she was with you?” Chloe replies, raising her eyebrows. “Look, Vic, I’ve had a real weird night, so—”

“It’s not like her to just disappear like that out of nowhere,” Max says as she comes up behind Vic. “She didn’t come back here?”

“Look, guys,” Chloe says with a groan, “I’ve got my own problems tonight, all right? There’s a girl in here I found out on the streets who’s taking a shower and thinks she might’ve been drugged or something, so if you can’t keep track of my girlfriend, right now I don’t think that’s my problem.”

“Wait, a girl?” Max and Vic look at each other.

“You don’t think…” Vic says, glancing back to Chloe. “Hey, Chloe, what was she—”

“Chloe,” Rachel says from the doorway to the bedroom, making all three of them jump half out of their skin. “Can you come in here for a sec?”

“What the—fucking—Rachel, _what?_ ” Chloe sputters, nearly knocking over the cup of tea she’s been working on. “How the hell did you—”

“Chloe. In here. Now.” Rachel’s putting on the We Need To Talk voice, and Chloe gets no backup when she looks at Max, who only gives her a confused shrug in return. Chloe sighs.

“Okay, would you guys at least give Kate her tea when she comes out — _if_ she comes out at all with all you fuckers hanging around?” Chloe asks.

“Uh, sure,” Max says.

“ _Right._ ” Chloe heads into the bedroom, Rachel closing the door behind her as she comes in. Rachel looks frazzled, hair fuzzy at the tips and floating lightly behind her in the air. She sits down on the edge of their bed, running a hand through said hair, and it seems to regain its gravity and fall to her shoulders properly. She’s shaking.

“Rach?” Chloe asks, some of her frustration fading into concern as she looks at her girlfriend. She looks sick, almost. Pale. “What’s going on?”

“I...I don’t know how to explain this,” Rachel admits. Chloe checks the window. Closed, like she left it. How did Rachel get up here without going in through the front door or the window? She couldn’t have come up without Chloe hearing. “Chloe…” Rachel’s eyes flick up to meet Chloe’s, and it works the same way it always has when Rachel’s face gets all...open, like that. There’s still too many people in this apartment too early in the morning with too little reason for them all to be here, but Chloe’s defenses lower anyway, and she takes a seat beside Rachel, almost holding her breath. She reaches for Rachel’s hand, and finds it cold.

“That girl you brought home,” Rachel manages at last. “Victoria knows people who can help her.”

Chloe blinks. “You mean, like, a counselor, or—”

“She’s the one we were out looking for. I know you followed us,” Rachel says slowly. “Listen, Chloe — me, Max, Victoria, we’re all involved in something that I...I never wanted you to be a part of. I wanted to keep you away from it. We all wanted to just live normal lives, but…”

“What the hell are you talking about, Rachel?” Chloe asks.

“You’re not gonna believe me.”

“Try me.”

Rachel hisses out through her teeth. “Okay. I guess I’ll start with the easiest one.” She takes a deep breath. “Victoria's a vampire.”

Silence dominates the room. Rachel keeps glancing back and forth from Chloe, drumming her fingers on her thigh. Finally, Chloe speaks up.

“I _knew_ it.”

 

* * *

 

Kate stares at herself in the mirror, trying not to hear all the other voices around her and failing completely. The conversations overlap, Max and Victoria trying to whisper about Chloe and Rachel, and Chloe and Rachel discussing the exact nature of Max and Victoria’s relationship, mixed in with a lot of other sounds — a man coughing after taking a drag off of a cigarette, a car passing by the apartment complex, a woman waking up in the apartment above to a subdued alarm.

Kate ties the robe tighter around herself, swallowing and trying to take everything in. There’s too much. It’s not just sound, it’s _smell;_ there’s so many scents she can’t even name, new to her nose, but the one that sticks out above all others, the one invading her being, stinks of stale blood. She shivers, hugging herself.

There’d been no signs anything had happened, in the morning. It had all been a dream. That’s what she’s been telling herself for the past month, but here she is, in a stranger’s house, after washing the blood off her naked body. Surrounded by people, and the stench of death.

She does _not_ want to leave this bathroom right now. It feels like stepping out there would confirm or deny...something. She sits on the toilet and closes her eyes, trying to breathe.

She listens to the conversations join up, though she’s still having trouble determining exactly what they’re saying. Slowly, the talking in the apartment drops off, and she can hear Chloe clearly say, “Okay, I’m gonna see how she’s doing.” She takes a breath and steadies herself for the knock on the door.

When it comes, she still jumps. “Kate?” Chloe calls. “You okay?”

“Managing,” Kate replies after a moment of consideration. “I think.”

“Well...wanna come out here and meet my friends? They think they can help you.” Kate can hear Chloe nervously tapping her foot. “That okay?”

Kate takes in a deep breath. “Yeah. I guess.”

She gets up off the toilet and opens the door, and the first person in her face is a tall, blonde woman with deep red eyes, and as soon as she gets close Kate reels back, having discovered the source of the stench. The woman steps back, putting her hands on her hips. “It’s her, all right,” she says. “ _Aversion to vampires due to a keen sense of smell, even in human form_.”

“What, are you reading from a fucking brochure, Victoria?” Chloe asks, pushing her back.

“The Mystacina have _very_ helpful reference material, thank you,” Victoria snaps back, bristling visibly.

“Give her some space, Jesus. Come on, Kate, let’s go to the living room like civilized people,” Chloe suggests. “This is Victoria, she who wears suits everywhere just to be extra. Max and Rachel wanna meet you too.”

Kate’s heart pounds, but she follows Chloe anyway, knowing in the back of her mind what to expect. When she gets into the room, Chloe introduces her to Max and Rachel. Max smells faintly of blood, but it’s laid over with a soft vanilla scent that she probably actually means to have; Rachel has no smell whatsoever, and in fact, when she gets in front of Kate, she finds that all the other smells become undetectable, as though she’s some kind of sensory void.

“First thing’s first, Kate,” Rachel says. “Do you know what happened to you?”

Kate breathes out. Time to just say it.

“I’m a werewolf.”

Everyone lets out a sigh of relief. “Okay, so you know,” Rachel says. “How long—”

“This has to be my first change, r-right?” Kate asks. “This is the first time I can remember...smelling so much.”

“This is gonna sound stupid, but are you...doing okay?” Chloe asks, before Rachel can interrupt. “This is a lot.”

“I don’t know,” Kate admits, though she can feel something gnawing at the back of her mind. “I’m kind of...I don’t know. I don’t know what to think, or, or what to do.”

“Well, luckily, we’ve got someone who does,” Victoria says, putting her hands on her hips. “She’s on her way over right now, actually.”

“Wait, you called her already?” Rachel says, whirling around to face Victoria.

“Uh, yeah, me and Max worked out the obvious while you two were having your little lover’s chat,” Victoria says with a roll of her eyes. “She should be here any min—”

A knock at the door interrupts her, and Chloe heads over to answer it, groaning,  “Oh, Jesus Christ, Vic, you know this is a fucking one-bedroom, right? You trying to make Kate have a complete panic attack?”

Kate’s barely keeping up with anything, partially because another smell, like Victoria’s, has been growing at the edge of her perception and distracting her mind from the conversation at hand. Chloe’s right, it’s all a lot to deal with, but everything’s happening too fast for her to process the implications of everything.

As the door opens, it reveals a red-eyed girl in a beanie, a bat-shaped pendant wrapped around her neck and a messenger back over one shoulder. Kate would’ve just taken her for an average nerd if she didn’t _smell_ like that — the pale skin and frumpy clothes would just be part of the territory. She raises an eyebrow when she walks in, surveying the women around her.

“...O-kay,” she says. “So where’s the wolf?”

“Right here,” Victoria says, pointing proudly.

The girl squints. “Really?”

Victoria loses a bit of her confidence. “Pretty sure…”

“So you guys captured a werewolf and you’re all just...what, having a civil conversation?”

“Pretty much,” Max admits, the new voice surprising Kate. Max clears her throat. “We think this was her first one.”

“So she’s not the one I _sent_ you after, but you stumbled across one anyway?” the new girl asks. “Shit, that’s not good.”

“Hey, man, I just helped a naked girl off the street,” Chloe says with a shrug.

“Hmm.” The girl steps closer to Kate, peering into her eyes, and Kate pulls away instinctually. “Yep, wolf all right.” She stands back, and then, she smiles. “Well, hey. You seem all right. Name’s Steph, I lead the local Mystacina chapter. Vampire underground, basically. I’d shake your hand, but I know I’m super gross to you.”

“T-thank you. I’m Kate. I don’t know anything.”

“Totally cool. Can we like, sit down and chill for a second? Everybody looks so wigged-out in here.”

“Oh, shit, Kate, your tea,” Chloe remarks, running off for the cup, and Steph guides Kate over to the kitchen table, sitting down across from her while the others hover uncertainly around them. Chloe sits down with them, giving Kate her cup, and as Kate takes her first sip Steph starts talking again.

“So, Kate,” she begins, idly tapping her nails on the table. “My people, they’re sort of allies to yours. We’re both enemies of this big cult that calls itself ‘The Society’ like a bunch of drama queens. If they had their way, your kind would all be either exterminated or, uh, perma-transformed, enslaved with blood rituals, and used as attack dogs, so obviously we’re not into that. But the thing is, we really can’t have werewolf activity in the big city. Wolves in full form, ‘specially solo wolves, get wild, kill the local wildlife or, uh, population. Society tends to notice that kind of thing, so we try to keep the clans out in the country. We got a deal that if any rogue or new wolves show up in L.A., we either kill them or ship them off to the nearest clan.”

“You’re going to send me away?” Kate says, tensing up. “I — what about my parents? My classes? I’m in school right now!”

“Hold your horses, the important thing right now is getting you out of the city ‘till the moon’s not full anymore, then we’ll work out a real relocation plan,” Steph clarifies, holding up a hand. “We’ve still got three days of lunacy, and Victoria and I are running out of time we can move around before the sun’s hitting us directly. So, here’s what we’re going to do.” Steph takes a deep breath. “Victoria and I are about to pass out whether we want to or not. I give us fifteen minutes, so we need to be down in the limo by then. Max will have to drive us to the nearest safehouse.”

Max groans. “You _know_ I hate it when you make me drive that thing.”

“Yeah, but we’re out of options here. Rachel, I’m leaving you in charge of getting Kate somewhere out of the city and under control.” Steph spares a glance at Chloe. “And since Chloe’s involved now, good job keeping cover guys, she should probably help out too.”

“Under control?” Rachel asks, bewildered. “I was just helping them out as a favor to a friend, why am I in charge? I don’t know how to calm a werewolf down!”

“Because that’s just the way shit’s shaking out, and here.” Steph pulls a thin, cheap-looking paperback from her messenger bag and sets it on the table in front of Chloe. “Quick-start guide to werewolf taming. Vanity publishers will print whatever you tell ‘em to.”

Kate takes the book first, hand shaking as she tries to read the cover (at least it looks nice and minimalist): _Werewolves: How to Not Fuck It Up._ She runs a hand through her hair. “S-steph?” she asks, but Steph’s already getting up.

“C’mon, Vic, Max. If I wake up and she’s on the loose again, Barb has disadvantage for every roll, forever,” Steph warns, pointing directly at Chloe.

“What, no threat for Rachel?” Chloe asks.

“Threaten her for me whenever she gets back,” Steph suggests, opening the door.

“Back? What?” Chloe asks, looking around as the three start to leave the apartment. Kate looks back to where Rachel was standing just a minute ago, but there’s no sign of her. “God dammit,” she swears. “Is she just gonna start _doing_ that now that she’s spilled the beans? Where the hell could she be?”

“Don’t know, got no time, good luck, Chloe,” Steph says, and the door closes behind her, leaving Kate and Chloe alone in silence. Kate breathes out, and the two of them look at each other.

“Can I at least finish my tea first?” Kate asks quietly.

“Sure, yeah, fuck.” Chloe sinks down into her chair, pushing her bright blue hair back from her head. “God damn. Been a fucking _weird_ night.”

“Yeah,” Kate murmurs, her mouth dry. She takes a sip of tea.

“Uh, just so you know, I didn’t know any of this supernatural shit was like, real, before tonight. I mean, I _thought_ Vic was a vampire, but I didn’t really think it was true, you know? It was just driving me crazy how fuckin’ vampire-like she was, I thought there had to be a reason she was so creepy, but...oof.” Chloe swallows. “Just, uh, saying. Same boat, you and me.”

Kate relaxes, a little. “Is it weird that that’s kind of nice to know?” she asks.

“I mean, it’d be way easier if Rachel was _here_ , so we’d have someone who has like the vaguest clue what’s up, but…”

“At least we’re figuring out together and I’m not just following your orders,” Kate says. “I...thank you. For finding me and helping me even when you didn’t know what I was. Everyone else was looking at me like I was a problem.”

“Max wasn’t,” Chloe points out, “But she can barely get a word in edgewise sometimes when she’s anxious. We should introduce you guys properly next time, I bet you’d like her.”

Kate laughs softly. “Thank you.” She gulps down the last of her tea, then slumps forward, putting her head in her hands. “What are we gonna do?”

“Get you some clothes, I guess,” Chloe muses. “Rachel’s stuff might fit you, for now. If she’s gonna fuckin’ vanish on us like this she can deal with it. Then...read this book, I guess?” She reaches across the table and takes it, letting out a snort at the title. “Steph definitely wrote this one. You know, Rach told me she’s forty-five? She’s just still this cool, apparently.” Chloe pauses, looking up at Kate. “Hey, you doing okay?”

Kate swallows, realizing she was barely listening. “I’m not...I’m not sure. I’m sorry, I…” She sniffs. “I’m—I’m gonna try and tough it out until we know what we’re doing, okay? I, I think I can do that.”

“Sure,” Chloe says, and her voice is so soft it surprises Kate. “Whatever you need.” She gets up, stretching. “I’m gonna grab a Red Bull. Go ahead and raid our closet down the hall, go wild.”

Kate gets up and yawns.

“Better hope that’s enough caffeine for you,” Chloe warns. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Chloe sits down with the werewolf guide as Kate gets dressed, sipping her energy drink as she pores over the contents. The first page is very straightforward, which, knowing Steph, it would be.

_So You’re Stuck With A Werewolf: Step-by-Step Instructions to Not Dying_

  1. _Don’t freak out. It’s likely you have this because you’ve been saddled with caring for a wolf without any Mystacina representatives around, but that’s not as scary as it sounds until nightfall during lunacy. You have time._
  2. _Wolves are stronger than humans or ghouls, even in human form. Do not attempt to force the wolf to do anything unless you have physical backup. Negotiation and reasoning are your friends._
  3. _Remove yourself and your charge from any significantly populated area. Cities are a nightmare for wolves. Smells and sounds are overwhelming for wolves in their first transformation in a city, and in order for a wolf to gain control over themself, they need to be somewhere isolated where they can get a handle on the beastly part of their nature._
  4. _In addition to point 3, immediately providing food for a wolf is paramount to keeping them under control during lunacy. Whenever you’re set up in a safe place, find a shop and get raw meat, a lot of it. Anything will do; you’d think red meat would be their jam but I’ve met plenty of wolves who prefer to just keep six entire frozen turkeys around each month._
  5. _Wolves will be terrifying when they first transform, but they do retain much of their own personality and will resemble more and more the human they are most of the time if they are fed and kept calm, even to the point of speech near the end of a lunacy period._
  6. _Lone wolves are likely to attempt to escape and join local packs, or form a pack with other nearby wolves, if they hear howling or smell them hunting nearby. There’s pretty much nothing you can do to stop this except hope that nobody’s breaking the rules. If your wolf is fed, they shouldn’t hurt anyone when they run out, but they might get in a scrap with the other wolf for dominance. Don’t get in the middle of it._
  7. _DO NOT ATTEMPT TO KILL OR CAPTURE A HOSTILE WOLF IN FULL FORM WITHOUT BACKUP AND NECESSARY SUPPLIES. YOU’LL JUST DIE. DON’T FUCK AROUND. Wolves are unlikely to attack or engage humans unless they’re particularly shitty people, are intoxicated on something, or have been starved for long periods._
  8. _That covers the basics. Refer to the following indices for further information on wolves in general._



Just as Chloe’s turning the page, Kate steps out of the bedroom, looking distinctly uncomfortable in a pair of Rachel’s denim shorts and a Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt. She’s pulled back her hair into a loose ponytail, which she keeps fiddling with as she approaches Chloe.

“So the basic stuff is what Steph already told us,” Chloe tells Kate, turning in her chair. “We gotta get you away from here. Book says it’s too much noise for you to handle.”

“I can believe that,” Kate admits. “I can barely think right now. But...can we stop by my dorm, first? I’d like to get my own clothes...and maybe figure out what happened last night, exactly.”

“Sure, we got time, I’ll drive you. Where d’you go to school?” Chloe asks.

“UCLA.”

“No shit, that’s where Max and Rachel go, too! Dykstra or somewhere else?”

“Hedrick.”

“Damn, you guys are neighbors.” Chloe giggles to herself as she stands up. “Rachel loooved being in Dykstra. Anyway, yeah, I know the way, got a permit and everything just for Max’s sake.” She hands the book to Kate. “Here, read up. If anything interesting comes up, speak up, kay?”

“All right.” Kate takes the book and stares down at the cover. She swallows. “Okay. Yeah. I hope no one figured out where I went last night. I’m lucky I have a single…” Suddenly, she stiffens. “I...I hope Alice is okay.”

“Alice?” Chloe asks.

“My rabbit. I had my sister sneak her in a couple nights ago because I missed her.”

Chloe thinks back to what she just read and feels her throat tighten. “Oh.”

“L-let’s just get over there, okay?”

“Yeah, um, let’s. C’mon.”

Chloe leads her silently back through the apartment building, walking the (too long) distance to where she last found a parking spot. As Chloe gets in, reaching across the seat to unlock the door, she wonders just what the hell direction her life’s taken that this is all seeming like a reasonable course of action right now. At least Kate’s handling it pretty well.

As they start the drive, Chloe turns down her stereo so as not to rattle Kate’s nerves further with the punk album she’s got stuffed in the CD drive. She sneaks glances over at Kate, watching as she tries to read while they move through LA’s early morning traffic. Kate’s biting her lip, hands shaking, but she doesn’t look up or stop reading. Chloe clears her throat.

“So, um...how’d it happen?” she asks. Kate nearly drops the book before recovering enough to look Chloe’s way. “The werewolf thing, I mean.”

“Oh…” Kate gulps. “Last month, I was having some trouble sleeping, so I went out to grab something from the shop. On my way back…” She shudders. “It jumped out of the shadows and bit me, then just ran off like it was confused. I couldn’t think clearly, I felt like I’d been drinking or something, so I just tried to get back to my dorm.”

“And when you woke up?”

“I thought it was a dream. I dropped my drink when it attacked me, and everything else...I just assumed I’d fallen asleep without meaning to while I was studying.” Kate rubs the back of her neck. “Nothing seemed different until tonight...today.”

“I know what that’s like,” Chloe murmurs. “Y’know, something’s felt off with my friends for a long time, but I thought I was just being paranoid. And Rachel…” She swallows. “I felt something change, about two years ago. But I thought it was a good thing. She paid more attention to me again, she, she tried to get her life together, but…”

“Chloe?” Kate asks, and Chloe realizes the light in front of her has turned green.

“Sorry, sorry. Not the best time for this. Fuck.” Chloe starts moving again, trying to keep her attention on the road.

“What...is she?” Kate asks, despite that. “She’s not a vampire. She didn’t smell like that. Or like...anything.”

“Later, man. Seriously,” Chloe warns. “God, I wish I could talk to Max about this, but...she was hiding things too! Fuck! She’s supposed to be my best friend, and—No. God dammit, not right now.” Chloe takes deep breaths, tries to remember the calming techniques she learned in therapy.

Thankfully, they’re heading into the parking garage now, and Chloe can focus on finding a spot. Once they’ve parked, Kate explains that she has to get a temporary card to get into her room, which means a whole lot of waiting around for Chloe. As Chloe taps her foot impatiently by the front desk, a text pops up on her phone.

**Max:**

_Hey, how are you and Kate doing?_

**Me:**

_oh just fine_

_dealing with a bunch of new shit i couldve known like a year ago but yeah totally fine just waiting to find out what the hell she did to her dorm last night_

**Max:**

_I’m so sorry I never told you_

_Rachel didn’t want you to know, and Victoria thought it’d be safer if you didn’t_

_And I didn’t know how to explain I’m addicted to Victoria’s blood!_

**Chloe:**

_kinky_

**Max:**

_I’m being serious, Chloe, please don’t blow me off._

_Look, I’ve been trying to figure out a safe place for you two to lay low with the other ghouls. We made you reservations. I’ll send you the Google Maps point for the hotel, okay?_

_We’ll talk soon, I promise._

Chloe chews on her lip. She wants to be angry, but she knows how totally unhelpful that’ll be right now, so she settles for being petty and just doesn’t respond until Kate finally turns around, temp key in hand.

They make their way to Kate’s door, but Kate stops just before it. She breathes out, then looks at Chloe.

“Do...do you mind going in first?” she asks, holding out the temp key.

Chloe doesn’t need to ask why. “Yeah, sure. If, uh, you shouldn’t come in...what should I grab?”

“Just stuff some clothes in the duffel bag under my bed,” Kate says, looking away. “And get my necklace from the nightstand, please.”

“Yeah, sure. Hang tight, okay?” Chloe slots the key into the lock and heads inside.

It’s a bloody mess.

The cage on the windowsill is obviously where Alice the rabbit once lived, but the bars are pried apart and red stains the bottom, and the floor, and oh God nearly everything. The bed’s been torn to pieces too; Chloe can see distinct claw-tracks in the mattress. A breeze flows over her from the open window; she’s surprised that Kate had the smarts to open it instead of just smashing right through it. She’s grateful Kate’s not seeing this.

She rummages through Kate’s dresser, feeling incredibly awkward, like she’s picking up laundry at a crime scene. She gets three changes of clothes and locates the duffel bag, thankful there’s no blood on it. Once she’s done with all that, she looks at the nightstand, and finds Kate’s phone, and her necklace. A simple gold cross.

Chloe idly wonders if that’s going to be a problem later, or if that’s only a vampire thing, or what. Still, she wants to get out of here. But before she does that…

**To: Max**

_get your ghoulie friends to clean up kates room_

_she ate her bunny_

**Max:**

_That’s awful! I’m so sorry!_

_Where’s her dorm?_

**Me:**

_ucla, hedrick_

_well give you the room key when you get to the hotel_

**Max:**

_Right._

_I’m sorry again._

_I need to sleep. I’ll contact you when I’m on my way out._

Chloe sighs and puts her phone in her pocket, then slings the bag over her shoulder. As she opens the door again, she hears Kate sniffling. Her stomach drops, but she heads out and finds Kate anyway, seeing her standing against the wall with her head in her hands.

Chloe approaches her cautiously, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looks between her fingers and stifles a sob.

“I can _smell_ her,” she whispers, and then she starts running for the bathroom. Chloe stuffs the phone and necklace into her pocket and follows after as quickly as she can, knowing what’s coming next.

Kate throws a stall open and kneels down in front of the toilet, and Chloe gets behind her, muscle memory from parties with Rachel guiding her way as she crouches down with her hands on Kate’s shoulders. At least Kate’s hair is in a ponytail.

Kate retches red into the bowl, and Chloe cringes. Probably won’t help any part of how Kate’s feeling. Chloe smooths her back, listening to Kate wail, “Why is this happening to me?” between sobs, just before another heave.

Kate sucks in a few ragged breaths, then slumps forward more, resting her cheek on the rim of the toilet and squeezing her eyes shut noiselessly. Chloe reaches around and grabs a few sheets of toilet paper, handing them to her behind her back so she can wipe her mouth and face.

“I’m sorry,” Kate mumbles, dropping the paper in the bowl. “I..I should be…I wanted to hold it together, but...”

“Hey, nothing to be sorry for,” Chloe says softly, rubbing her back. “It’s a lot.”

“The—the whole reason I snuck her in was because I wasn’t having the greatest year to start with, b-but _this…_ ” Kate covers her face. “I _ate_ her,” she whispers, a high whine in the back of her throat. “I—I’m a _monster—_ ”

“It’s not your fault,” Chloe tells her quickly. “You didn’t know. You didn’t choose to be this way.”

“There’s a lot of things I didn’t _choose_ to be that are messing my life up anyway,” Kate mumbles.

Something in her tone curdles Chloe’s stomach. She remembers the necklace she grabbed, and carefully takes it out of her pocket and pulls back on Kate’s shoulders. “Hold still,” Chloe murmurs, draping the necklace around her and fastening it. Kate breathes out, one hand instinctively going for the cross, holding it tight.

“Thank you.” Kate breathes, closing her eyes. “We should go. Please.”

“Okay.” But as Kate turns around, Chloe can’t help but hug her, and she leans in gratefully. She shudders in Chloe’s arms, but does return the hug, full-force. Chloe holds her until she pulls away.

Without another word, they find their way out of the building and into Chloe’s truck. Chloe pulls up Max’s GPS pointer.

“It’s gonna be about an hour and fifteen,” she tells Kate. Kate makes an _mm_ sound, leaning against the passenger-side door and staring out the window. “Wanna grab breakfast on the way?” Chloe asks, and then wants to shove her fist straight into her mouth.

“You can get something. I don’t have much appetite,” Kate says, wincing. “Thank you for offering, though.”

“Yeah, you’re, uh, welcome.”

Chloe rummages around in her CD binder and brings out one of Rachel’s Cranberries albums, deciding that something a little softer might suit Kate better. From there on, she tries to let herself zone out, just focusing on directions, the road, anything. They stop by a grocery store on their way out of town, and heft a bunch of turkey breasts into the backseat at Kate’s request, along with some other food for the next few days. How Kate knows what she’ll want as a wolf isn’t something Chloe wants to inquire too far into.

As they settle in for the second half of the drive, Kate says softly, “Can you talk to me?”

“About what?” Chloe asks, glancing down at her phone and checking her direction.

“Just...anything. Distract me, I don’t know.” Kate runs a hand through her hair. “I...I keep thinking about Alice, and I don’t want to, and a lot of other stuff, and I just…” She swallows. “Tell me about Rachel.”

“You mean...what she is?” Chloe asks, throat tightening. “I, uh. I’m not sure. She’s not super sure either.”

“But she’s _something._ Why isn’t she here with us?” Kate chews on her lip.

“She’s…” Chloe takes in a deep breath. “She’s a ghost. Apparently the ‘strongest apparition the Mystacina have ever seen.’ Whatever that means. She went out for a modeling gig two years ago, got killed by a vampire, and just...came back. She said she didn’t want to leave me. So now she can...do a lot of things. Appear and disappear in places she wants to be, see people’s ‘aura’, all kinds of stuff.”

“...oh,” Kate says. “And you...didn’t know about any of that?”

“Not until today. So I’m...trying to just. Deal. Right now. Same as you.” Chloe chuckles without smiling. “It’s not like it’s the first time she’s lied to me, anyway,” she mutters under her breath.

“What?” Kate’s suddenly looking right at her, eyes huge.

“I—I mean, shit, nothing, Kate, that was all...I mean, _was_ being the operative word, right?” Chloe sighs. “Apparently after she...changed, she decided to get her act together. She did a lot of, of stringing me along and stuff. Before. In high school. I thought we were good now. I _thought._ ” She feels a burning in the back of her throat, and tries to force it down, because she needs to pay attention to the map and the _fucking_ road.

“So...where did she go?” Kate asks.

“Fuck if I know!” Chloe spits. “Fuck if I _ever knew!_ Bet she’s been using her fancy ghost powers to run off to fuckin’, drug dealers and shady ass fucking photographer creeps like she was before! Why would I think anything changed?”

Kate shrinks away from her, and Chloe wipes her eyes and takes a deep breath, her stomach dropping. “Shit, sorry,” she mumbles. “Shouldn’t have dropped all that on you. I barely fucking know you, I just…”

“It’s okay,” Kate assures her. “It’s just...I don’t know. I guess I was just hoping you two were happy together.”

“We were.” Chloe sighs. “For a while. I really love her, I just...I don’t know what to do with any of this. Fuck, I’m tired.”

“I know. I’m sorry I’m making you do all the driving,” Kate says. “Is there anything I can do?”

“You’re not making me do shit, I barely let Rachel borrow this thing. Though, I’m not sure she needs it that much now? Shit.” Chloe groans. “Anyway. Anything we need to do with like, school or whatever? Friends gonna miss you?”

Kate looks away again, staring out at the monotonous California highways. “Don’t really have friends,” she says. “I had to get a single this year, because me and my roommate...It’s, uh, complicated. I had to,” she repeats softly. “I should’ve asked you to grab my laptop. I can email my professors from my phone, I guess. I’ll just say I’m sick.”

“Or having the worst period ever?” Chloe suggests. “C’mon, once a month, lasts a couple days, random cravings, _big_ mood swings…”

Kate giggles, then can’t seem to stop herself, slumping against the door and laughing manically. Chloe casts a concerned glance or two over, adding, “Jeez, Kate, that was nowhere near my best effort.”

“I’m sorry,” Kate says, still trying to talk through giggles, “I don’t know why I’m laughing.”

“Like I said, mood swings.”

“Chloe!’

Kate takes a few seconds to breathe, then gulps in air. “Oh, God,” she says, sighing. “I just — everything’s felt so bleak for a long time. I think my sense of humor just broke.”

“That makes sense. My jokes only work on people who aren’t expecting them. I just get groans from Max now.”

Kate chuckles. “Don’t put yourself down. Really, thank you. For all of this. Talking to me, and everything.”

“Yeah, anytime.” Chloe merges onto the exit ramp, seeing the hotel waiting nestled up against a mountain. It’s a crappy little spit of a rest stop, but that’s exactly what they want. Far from the city, and not even a real town, just a dot on the map. Chloe stifles a yawn when they hit the first stoplight. “I’m gonna pass out ‘till Max gets here, ‘kay?” she asks. “She’s gonna pick up the room key, clean up your place later. Maybe I’ll ask her to grab some more stuff from the apartment too.”

“Oh. That’s nice of her,” Kate murmurs. “I...I do appreciate that there’s someone out there. Looking out for us all.”

“Yeah, seems like they’re pretty cool. Rach said they’re mostly a bunch of vamp-ghoul couples like Vic and Max. They fall in love, don’t wanna treat each other like crap, and run away, try and make the world a better place. Real romantic. Sorta.”

“What’s a ghoul?” Kate asks.

“Right, yeah. I’ll explain when you’re older.”

“Chloe.”

“I’ll explain after a nap, then. Then we can talk all about Max and Vic’s bloodplay or whatever.”

“You’re having too much fun being vague at me.”

“I won’t confirm or deny that.”

Once they pull into the hotel’s parking lot, it’s all business for a while; confirming their reservations with the front desk, getting their keys, finding their room. Once they’re inside, they stuff their groceries into the fridge and Chloe draws the blinds, sighing gratefully as she falls back on one of the beds.

“Sorry I couldn’t get your pajamas,” Chloe says as Kate mimics her pose beside her. “They were kinda everywhere in pieces.”

“I didn’t even think about it,” Kate admits. “God, what did I do last night? Besides…” She swallows. “You know.”

“I think you probably...did that, and then you calmed down for a while, like the book says,” Chloe theorizes, “And then...you were smart enough to open the window, and went hunting. I saw you, um, eating something when I found you. Maybe a rat?”

Kate groans. “I _hate_ this.”

“Believe me, I get it.” Chloe gets up first and starts undoing her bootlaces. “I shoulda brought clothes and stuff too. I’ll make Max be my monkey since Rachel is...wherever. I’ll text her if she doesn’t just mysteriously show up at some point.”

“All right.” Kate’s voice is oddly quiet, and Chloe feels an awkward silence pass between them as Chloe undresses, taking her bra out from under her shirt and getting her pants off entirely. Whatever. A bitch needs sleep. Chloe glances Kate out of the corner of her eye, and Kate instantly looks away and starts taking off her own borrowed shoes.

“Max’ll come by and wake us up before you turn,” Chloe says with a yawn, stuffing herself under the covers and wrapping herself in them like a burrito. Rachel always complains about that, but she’s not here now, is she?

As Chloe and Kate finally let the night catch up to them, something itches at the edges of Chloe’s hearing. It sounds like Rachel’s voice, calling across some great valley.

_Let me stay._


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe wakes up to Kate’s panicked whispers.

“Chloe?” she begs, hesitantly shaking Chloe’s shoulder. “Chloe?”

“Mmyeah?” Chloe mumbles, turning over to look up.

“Help.”

Kate’s glowing yellow eyes stare down at her beneath a mop of shaggy blonde hair which seems to be growing by the second. Chloe sits up with a start, heart already pounding as Kate steps back from the bed.

“Uh. Okay. Okay. Shit,” she stammers, standing up and putting her hands out. “Don’t panic, we got this. God, where the fuck is Max?”

“I don’t know,” Kate says. “I—I just woke up, and I was already changing, I—Please, Chloe—”

“Okay. Okay, hold on, we’re ready for this. Uh, not to sound like a complete perv, but get naked,” Chloe says, naming the first action that comes to mind.

“ _What?”_

“Rachel will kill me if I let you destroy her clothes!”

“Oh, yeah, you’re—you’re right,” Kate says. “I’ll go to the bathroom—”

“And what, tear off the door when you’re full wolf? Jesus, I won’t look, I need to get your meat outta the fridge.”

“I—I—” Kate’s eyes meet Chloe’s, and despite the glow, they’re shining with tears. “Chloe, I’m scared.”

Chloe feels a pull in her chest, and steps closer to Kate. “It’s gonna be all right,” she says. “We got this, okay?”

“But—but what if I hurt you, or I, I get out and hurt more animals, or—”

Chloe pulls her in, holding her tight to her chest. “You won’t,” she tells her. “You’ve got me here. I could probably fight your skinny ass bare-handed, come on.”

Kate chuckles weakly into her shoulder. “Chloe…”

Chloe squeezes her. “I am your badass punk protector slash dog-catcher for the night. When you wake up, you’ll be right here and not bloody at all. Okay?”

Kate swallows. “Okay.”

Chloe winces as she feels claws start to poke into her back, and Kate jumps back, staring at her rapidly-furring hands. It’s not coming in gray, like Chloe would expect — more of a sort of golden color, a white undercoat showing just beneath—

Focus, Chloe. “Come on,” Chloe urges, “Before you just explode those clothes.”

“Okay. I’ll, uh, I’ll try not to rip them…” Kate bites her lip, looking at her claws, and Chloe reminds herself to look away and get her food out. Chloe kneels down in front of the mini-fridge, focusing on taking out each turkey breast and unwrapping them one-by-one as she hears clothes falling to the floor behind her. And then, Kate lets out a scream.

“Kate?!” Chloe asks, whirling around. Kate stands hunched over, hugging herself, the gold-white fur covering her whole body now, legs shaking beneath her. She looks at Chloe, eyes grown to nearly twice their original size, and opens her mouth — but she can only let out a pitiful wail as she falls to the floor, _cracks_ sounding from her limbs as they elongate and twist their shapes, fingers extending out from her palms, knees popping backwards, ankles adjusting up. Chloe steps back as Kate curls into a fetal position on the floor, tucking her head between her knees. She’s stopped making any noise at all save for a heavy panting.

“Kate?” Chloe asks softly, body primed to approach, to comfort, to see if she can do anything. But Kate’s ragged breathing, so much like a beast, roots her to the ground. Slowly, Kate uncurls, and when her head rises out of that mass of fur and muscle it’s no longer the face that Chloe’s been seeing for the past day. Her snout is long, her teeth sharp, and her eyes glow bright orange with no hint of Kate’s intelligence behind them. Kate rises to her full height, long ears just barely touching the ceiling, and bares her teeth.

Chloe’s frozen in place, until she remembers she’s ready for this. She crouches down, still facing Kate, and takes a turkey breast from the floor. Kate lets out a low rumble, and before she can freak herself out any more, Chloe tosses the turkey at Kate’s head.

She catches it in her jaws and gulps the thing down like it’s nothing, then snaps her head back to Chloe. Chloe swallows, then tosses another one her way. After the third one, Kate’s demeanor starts to change; she drops down to all fours and starts cautiously sniffing in Chloe’s direction. Just as Chloe reaches down to grab a fourth, Kate takes a step in Chloe’s direction, and the both of them freeze.

“Kate?’ Chloe asks again, and this time, Kate’s ears perk up. Chloe holds out the meat for her, not throwing it this time, letting Kate approach on her own. She pads over, then snatches the turkey and turns, jumping on the bed in order to do so in the small space afforded to her by the hotel room. She runs back towards the sink and tears pieces off her meal using her fingers, hunched over it protectively. By the time she’s finished with it, she seems calmer, looking at Chloe again. Chloe prepares a fifth for her, but as she approaches Chloe she just gets right up in her face, making eye contact without blinking. She raises herself up on two legs again but keeps herself hunched so they’re at eye level.

“H-hey, Kate,” Chloe offers weakly, and then Kate licks her teeth.

Chloe jolts back, sputtering, while Kate makes an inquisitive noise and cocks her head. “Gross, girl!” Chloe says, though she can’t keep the laugh out of her voice. Kate looks directly at her, eyes open and unthreatening. Nervously, Chloe reaches out, stroking the fur behind Kate’s ear. It’s so _soft._ Chloe never would’ve expected her to feel like this.

Kate leans into the touch, closing her eyes. “Not so crazy now, huh?” Chloe murmurs.

And...now what?

She’s fed, she’s calm, does she have to...entertain her for the rest of the night? Wait for Max and Vic to show their stupid faces? Cautiously, Chloe gets up onto the bed, only for Kate to follow immediately afterwards, sitting at her feet and staring at her expectantly.

Chloe reaches for the remote and flips on the TV. Kate’s head snaps to the screen, eyes following the movement of the fish on-screen as a dry narrator discusses their spawning patterns. Raising an eyebrow, Chloe changes the channel to Adult Swim. Kate looks back to her and gives her an annoyed chuff.

“What, not into Aqua Teen Hunger Force?” Chloe teases. Kate shuffles up the bed, hands on Chloe’s thighs, and looks up plaintively into Chloe’s eyes. She lets out the saddest whine Chloe’s ever heard. “All right, all right, Jesus, we’ll go back to Animal Planet,” Chloe promises, scratching her behind the ears again and changing the channel. Kate shifts herself so that she’s laying across Chloe’s lap, head turned eagerly to the screen while Chloe strokes her fur.

Chloe lets out a sigh of relief. Who knew babysitting a werewolf was this easy? She manages to lean over to the nightstand and grab her phone, checking her texts. At least Max didn’t forget about her entirely; there’s a bunch of messages from her on the unread tab.

_Hey, sorry, I overslept_

_It’s almost sunset now, so I’m just going to take Victoria with me. Be there in an hour_

Then, a picture of Victoria’s car, absolutely fucking totaled with a giant dent in the passenger side.

_Don’t worry, we’re okay, but we’re not getting there anytime soon. Some crazy wolf in an RV just jumped out of the driver’s-side window and slammed into our car when we were about to get on the highway, then it just ran off. Are you guys holding up okay?_

Chloe chews on her lip. That can’t be good. With all the werewolf activity in the past few months, _something_ must be going down. She turns up the TV a few notches, just in case it might drown out any howling, then calls Kate’s name. Kate responds, to Chloe’s delight, and looks right at her while she takes a picture. She sends it off to Max with the caption _doing fine._

**Max:**

_Oh my god she’s so cute!! She’s calm and everything then?_

**Me:**

_cute and very fucking heavy. you got any magicky friends that can fix a crushed pelvis_

**Max:**

_She didn’t hurt you, did she?_

**Me:**

_nah im messing around. we watchin late night animal planet and chillin_

_any clue when you guys might get here?_

**Max:**

_Steph’s gonna give me a ride, Victoria’s going to wait with the car. Be there in about an hour, I’d say. You think she’ll stay calm?_

**Me:**

_we got more food in the fridge, shell be okay_

_are you guys gonna take over for me tomorrow or something? i got work_

**Max:**

_Actually, apparently your shop is closed down?_

_Steph keeps an eye on the news for anything paranormal and the owners said that they’re being really aggressively haunted since last night by an ‘angry teen girl who got tetanus there and died’. She’s throwing tattoo guns through the windows if anyone gets close._

_Think it’s Rachel?_

**Me:**

_fuck if i know i haven’t seen her since she fuckin vanished last night_

_i guess i can keep an eye on her if you guys wanna keep chasing wolves_

_do i get a gun_

_do i get silver bullets_

**Max:**

_Maybe. If you’re good._

**Me:**

_max you can just say no_

**Max:**

_I’ll leave you dangling. Steph’s here, see you soon._

_Send more pictures of Kate._

**Me:**

_ill leave YOU dangling_

Chloe sets aside her phone and settles in, letting her eyes glaze over. Kate relaxes too, laying her head down with her eyes still on the screen. Chloe grows accustomed to Kate’s weight and warmth, idly petting her as she lets the time go by.

As their documentary is finishing up, Kate suddenly perks her head up, pinning her ears back and growling at something, staring at the closed blinds. “What’s wrong?” Chloe asks, smoothing her hand down Kate’s back. Kate stands up and hops down off the bed, approaching the door just as someone knocks on it.

“Chloe? It’s me,” Max calls, and Chloe gets it.

“You got Steph with you?” she asks, standing up and walking to the door.

“I’m here,” Steph answers.

“Well, go away, she’s not happy about your smell.”

“Right, shit, yeah. Keep forgetting how new she is. I’ll wait in the car.”

Chloe waits a moment until Kate’s ears perk back up and Max says, “She’s gone” before opening the door. Kate stands up again and shoves Chloe aside, staring Max in the face.

“Careful, she’s gonna—”

“Agh!”

“Lick...your teeth.”

Kate steps back, glances at Chloe, then stalks back towards the bathroom while Max shivers in place. “I think it means she likes you,” Chloe says with a shrug when Max gives her a distraught look.

Max clears her throat and points to Kate. “Where’s she going?”

Kate wraps her long fingers around the doorknob, considers carefully, and pulls the door right off its hinges. She dumps the door on the ground and heads into the bathroom while Chloe and Max exchange glances.

“Should we do something?” Max asks, and Chloe can only shrug.

“I mean, if she’s doing her business, I say let her. Besides, the book said to not fuck around, so…”

“Right, okay.” Max sighs and takes off her backpack, laying it on the bed. “I brought some stuff from your place, like you asked. Phone charger, pajamas, changes of clothes.”

“You’re a lifesaver, dude.” Chloe opens the bag and starts rummaging through it. “Thanks, really.”

“And, um...Chloe, I wanted to tell you I’m sorry. For keeping all this from you.”

Chloe freezes, biting back the anger that flashes to the front of her mind. Breathe. Take a moment.

“Rachel said she...she never wanted you to know. That you deserved to be happy and not have to worry about all this extra stuff on top of the rest of everything you had to deal with.” Max sits down on the edge of the bed, fiddling with her hoodie strings. “She really loves you, Chloe. She says that you were the last thing on her mind when she...when she died, and she thinks that’s what brought her back.”

Tears sting at Chloe’s eyes, and she has to stop and take a seat beside Max. “Then where is she?” Chloe asks.

“I-I don’t know,” Max admits. “But, Chloe...we were all doing what we thought was best for you. We didn’t think it’d all get so...complicated. Me and Victoria had just gotten together and we were trying to figure out how to stay on the down-low, meeting Steph and the Mystacina and getting into their good graces, trying to figure out how to keep on going without Victoria’s people catching up with us...we were really busy over the past year, and we just didn’t think about how everything would shake out long-term. That’s our fault, and I’m sorry.”

Max reaches for her hand, and Chloe lets her take it, trying to ground her thoughts with the physical contact. “I wish I could see her,” Chloe murmurs. “I feel like I wanna scream, but I also feel like — like you guys aren’t to blame for all this, like, obviously you’re all kinda forced to keep this a secret and everything, but I’m still _pissed,_ you know? I feel like she’s been lying to me for two years, and...and I thought we were past that.”

“I’m so sorry, Chloe. I want you to know I’ll be here for you from now on. As for Rachel...I’m worried. The ghost at the tattoo parlor doesn’t have a physical form, it’s just throwing things around and wailing. But I can’t see who else it could be.”

Chloe swallows. “She’s not gonna... leave me, right?”

Max winces. “I...she doesn’t _want_ to. She wants to stay so badly she crossed back over for you.”

“Oh, God.” Chloe puts a hand over her face. “Max, I…”

Max hugs her then, and it’s exactly what she needs. Max holds her tight, letting her cling back. Chloe still kind of wants to scream, kind of wants to cry, but the mood’s entirely broken when the toilet flushes.

Both of them turn their heads to see Kate walking out of the bathroom towards the sink. Chloe can’t keep from staring as Kate first turns on the faucet to wash her hands, then sticks her entire head into the sink to gulp down the water coming out. Max giggles first, which sets Chloe off, and she somehow feels better.

Kate looks back at them with what can only be described as a withering expression, then grabs one of the hand towels and vigorously rubs her hands and face. Max clears her throat.

“Anyway, I need to tell Steph to pay for the damages in advance and clean up Kate’s room,” she says. “Sorry I can’t stay longer, but do you think you have everything handled? Steph says she can get some fresh Mysta ghouls to take another room here in case she gets out.”

“Go ahead and send them,” Chloe says. “But I think we’ll be okay.”

“All right.” Max gives her a quick hug again, and Chloe gives her the room key from the nightstand. “See you tomorrow night. Hopefully we’ll have a lead on this rogue wolf with the RV. Tori broke into it but she hasn’t found anything solid.”

“Remind me to ask her to teach me to pick locks,” Chloe says with a raised eyebrow as Max heads for the door. “Your girlfriend is something else, Max.”

“I could tell you _stories,_ now that you know,” Max says, wiggling her eyebrows (or attempting to.)

“Max Caulfield, making a dirty joke? The wonders of tonight will never cease. C’mere.” Chloe gives her a tight hug before sending her out the door. She turns and sees Kate sitting on the bed, looking at her passively.

Chloe rolls her eyes and climbs back up into bed. “No running away if I fall asleep,” she scolds Kate as she gets under the covers and Kate curls around her body, letting Chloe use her side as a pillow. In no time at all, the words of the narrators start to blur together, and the two of them fall into the darkness of night.

 

* * *

 

Kate wakes up naked and wrapped around a girl.

She comes to consciousness slowly, enjoying Chloe’s warmth before realizing where she is and how tightly her arms are circled around Chloe’s chest. Just as a panic starts to set into her chest, she hears something — the whistle of a high wind, the crackle of electricity. She turns her head to the ceiling, and almost screams in fear before a freezing hand clamps over her mouth.

Rachel floats in the air over the bed, hair billowing out like kelp, skin translucent blue, lightning arcing within her. She draws back her hand from Kate’s mouth, glowing amber eyes boring into Kate’s.

“I can’t let her see me like this,” Rachel whispers. “Take care of her for me. Tell her I’ll see her soon.”

Kate gapes open-mouthed, and Rachel tilts her head, a soft smirk coming to her lips.

“You’re totally her type,” she sighs, and then she vanishes.

Kate scrambles backwards, falling between the two beds with a _thump_ as she pants, staring up at the ceiling like Rachel will come back any second. Chloe stirs, then her head pokes out over the side and Kate flings her arms around herself.

“You okay?” Chloe asks.

“I need to get dressed,” Kate blurts out.

Chloe’s eyes widen. “Oh, shit, um, sorry. Not looking.”

Kate shakes as she stands up, looking around for her duffel bag. She finds it on the desk and rummages through it, gathering a set of clothes for the day. She looks to the bathroom and sees the door leaning up against the wall. For now, she decides not to question it and hurries inside so at least there’s a wall between her and Chloe, and she can breathe. She heads into the shower and for a while, her worries vanish in warm water and ritual (though she would _not_ have selected this hotel’s shampoo/conditioner hybrid for herself.)

As she dresses, however, she can’t help but remember the last time she woke up in another girl’s bed. She shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t be what she is, not any part of it, everything about her is twisted and wrong and she should have just—

“Hey, Kate? Seriously, are you okay?” Chloe calls from the room, and Kate’s jolted out of her thoughts. This isn’t Chloe’s burden to bear.

She swallows the lump is her throat before answering. “I didn’t do anything...weird, last night, did I?”

“I mean, you saw the door, but that’s about it. Otherwise you were pretty chill. Had to feed you twice, though.”

“Okay.” Kate pulls up her skirt and zips it. “All right. Sorry. You’re sure?”

“Why would I lie to you? C’mon, I got a picture of you on my phone, your wolf form is hella adorable.”

Kate’s cheeks burn, and she remembers someone else calling her _such a cutie._ Her head hurts. She doesn’t want to think about this right now, but between Rachel’s appearance and the way she woke up and the way she can’t stop _looking,_ or _thinking…_

She hastily buttons up her blouse and leaves the bathroom, finding that Chloe has _not_ really gotten dressed and is still hanging out in a t-shirt and boxers, but she seems totally comfortable as she beckons Kate over to the bed and hands her her phone.

“I’m _that_ color?” Kate asks, smiling despite herself. “Wow…”

“Maybe it’s based on your hair?” Chloe asks, reaching out and taking a lock between her fingers. Kate feels a chill run down her spine but wills herself not to step back. Don’t be weird. “Anyway, super cute, right? You were pretty cuddly too.”

Kate hands back the phone, brushing her hair back behind her ear. “...thanks. Really. I’m glad you were here.”

“Hey, me too.”

Kate looks around for her shoes. “Should we go and get breakfast? There’s a free one here, right?”

“Yeah, sure.” Chloe gets up off the bed. “I’ll take a shower real quick, then we can get going.”

“Sounds good.” Kate steps aside to let Chloe through. “Did Max ever stop by?” she asks as Chloe grabs a change of clothes from the desk that hadn’t been there last night.

“Yeah, she just dropped off some stuff and grabbed your key. Apparently another wolf kicked Vic’s car’s ass on the way over,” Chloe says. “Anyway, see you in a bit, yeah?”

As Chloe disappears into the bathroom, Kate takes her phone and sits on the bed, hoping to distract herself. But she ends up going into her old texts anyway, like she does so often, like she can’t help but pick at the scab.

**06/10/2015**

**8:32 AM**

**Dana:**

_Where are you?_

**8:40 AM**

_Can we talk about what happened last night?_

**9:03 AM**

_Kate?_

_Please let me know you’re okay_

_Did I do something wrong?_

**10:01 AM**

_My parents are here_

_I’m still packing up_

_Please come back_

**10:43 AM**

_I guess I’m heading home now._

_Whatever I did, I’m sorry._

_Please text me back when you’re ready._

**07/03/2015**

**1:23 AM**

**Dana:**

_whatdid i od_

_please tell m_

_sorry_

**10/13/2015**

**11:43 AM**

**Dana:**

_I saw you in the hallway today. I didn’t know what to say._

_I don’t know if you’ve blocked my number by now, or what. But I just want you to know that I’m here if you ever want to talk. I’ll always answer._

It’s on her mind. It’s all been on her mind for so long it feels like she can’t think about anything else. Despite everything that’s been going on lately, _this_ is still what’s she’s thinking about, still what’s eating away at her, more than even her recently-acquired lycanthropy. It almost feels like the universe is playing a cruel joke on her, giving her confirmation she’s a monster after all.

She jumps when Chloe says her name, looking back towards the bathroom in a panic. Damn, she takes quick showers. She’s toweling off her hair (leaving a light blue stain on the white) but otherwise fully dressed, looking at Kate with concern.

“Hey, Kate, before we go…” She sinks down onto the bed opposite Kate, looking down at her chipped nail polish. “I, um, did notice something. Last night. There were...scars, on your thighs.”

Kate’s breath catches in her throat, mind racing. “I-I must have gotten hurt the last time I transformed,” she stammers out, “Maybe they carry over, or—”

Chloe sighs. “Kate, look at my arms.” She holds them out in front of her, and Kate looks. They’re faded, so much so that Kate didn’t notice them before, but they’re there. Dozens of sharp little scar-lines, running down Chloe’s forearms.

Kate swallows. “O-oh.”

“Yeah.” Chloe rubs the back of her neck. “Listen, I know we barely know each other, but...you said you’re kind of alone. I’ve been there. I wanted you to...know that, I guess. If we’re sticking together through this fucking insanity, we should support each other, y’know?” Chloe bites her lip. “Rachel still hasn’t come back, and nobody knows exactly what’s up with her, and I just...I can only imagine how _you’re_ doing right now, 'cuz I’m barely holding up. I can tell there’s a lot on your mind, y’know?”

“Yeah.” Kate looks down at her lap.  “There is. I’m— I’m sorry I lied to you, you shouldn’t have to bother with me—”

“Exactly the opposite of what I was saying, Kate,” Chloe says with a half-smirk, reaching over and patting Kate’s knee. “I’m saying I’m gonna be here for you. From now on. I want to be. Feel like it’s my duty.”

Kate chuckles despite herself. “Thank you,” she whispers. She gulps, looks up, catches Chloe’s ( _gorgeous)_ blue eyes, and glances away again. She should tell someone. Say it out loud. She’s wanted to get this out of her for so long, but it’s just been festering within her instead, rotting her from the inside out, and here’s Chloe — Chloe, who has a girlfriend, and a best friend who also has a girlfriend, who else would understand? Who else could she say any of this to?

But how does she?

“There...is something I've been thinking about,” she manages, gripping the hem of her skirt. “And...and I haven’t told anyone. Because I don’t know how, but...you already know the biggest secret about me there could be, don’t you? And you won’t...judge me?”

Chloe looks her in the eye and deadpans, “Kate, look at me. I am a high school dropout slash tattoo artist dyke who’s dating a ghost and pals around with vampires for _Dungeons and Dragons sessions._ I am the biggest combination of nerd, loser, and failure there could _possibly_ be.”

“You don’t have to be down on yourself to make me feel better,” Kate murmurs.

“I’m not, just stating facts is all. C’mon, seriously, if you need to vent…”

“You remember how I mentioned my...my roommate?” Kate asks.

“Yeah. You said it was complicated.” Chloe shifts to sit up straight, and Kate’s grateful she looks like she’s taking this seriously.

“We hit it off really quickly when we first moved in. We were...really good friends. She pushed me out of my comfort zone, but never too much, she...she and I got really close. I’d never been that close to anyone before.” Kate taps her shoes together, whole body nervously twitching. “On the night after her last final, she wanted to celebrate with me. A going-away party kind of thing. She snuck some beer into our room, and we stayed up really late, and…” Kate can feel her throat starting to close, so she rushes her next sentence out. “And we ended up in her bed and cuddling and I, I kissed her and she kissed me back.”

Chloe breathes out an “Oh.” She fidgets for a moment, and then says, “And you’re Christian, yeah? Like...just based on the necklace, I know, but—”

“Yeah.” The word comes out in a squeak. “I—I wasn’t raised to...to do things like that, but that night...it felt so good, with her. We fell asleep together and I felt so happy, until the morning, and I couldn’t — I couldn’t face her. Or myself. I walked around campus until her parents took her home, and I asked for a single this year, and — and you’re the first person I’ve told.” Tears start to fall down Kate’s cheeks, salt on her lips, and she tries to wipe them away. “And—and I haven’t been able to feel in control of it since then, every time I look at a girl I think about it and it makes me feel so _gross,_ I can’t figure out how to make it stop, how to—”

“Hey, hey,” Chloe says softly, getting up and crossing to her bed, letting Kate lean into her side as she tries to hold in sobs.

“I h-hurt myself, when I can’t take it anymore,” Kate says breathlessly, squeezing her eyes closed. “I wish I could be like you, but I can’t, and—”

“You _are_ like me,” Chloe tells her, and Kate sniffles and stops in her tracks.

“What?”

“When I was a kid...I mean, the first girl I really knew I was into was Rachel.” Chloe swallows. “Looking back, there were, um, others, but when I started noticing Rachel like that I couldn’t...I was in a bad place before that, and it didn’t help at all. I felt so gross for thinking about my friend like that. The more I tried to stop myself, the worse it made me feel when I _did_ think like that. The only thing that stopped it was when I stopped trying to pretend that I didn’t feel that way about her, you get me?” Chloe asks, wrapping an arm around Kate and squeezing her for a sideways hug.

“When you stopped fighting it?” Kate asks.

“Yeah. When I was like, fuck it, I’m fucking gay for her, I can’t do anything about it, clearly, so I just let it...go. I mean, then it became more about me being hella jealous of anyone she got with, and wanting her real bad, but eventually the whole gay part of the equation dropped out and it was just standard unrequited love teen-drama shit,” Chloe says with a small laugh. “But she did love me back, so that worked out eventually. Sort of. She did die.”

Kate lets out an unexpected laugh, then swallows. “God, what _is_ this life I’m living right now?” she asks no one in particular.

“Fucked if I know, sister, but it’s going on with or without us wanting it to,” Chloe points out. “I know I can’t, like, fix a whole upbringing of pray-the-gay-away, but, I’ll just tell you how it worked for me. Once you realize you can’t make it go away and you just get ready for it, deal with what’s in front of you, it gets a lot easier. It’s like hunger, y’know? You can want to not be hungry anymore all you want but it’s just gonna make you think about food more and then you’ll get _really_ cranky.”

Kate pulls back, looking at Chloe incredulously. “Are you really comparing me being a literal monster with me...with my...”

“Hey, Disney movies been doin’ it for years. At least that’s what Max says.” Chloe gives her a grin. “And it’s okay, you can say ‘my rampant, uncontrolled lesbianism.’”

“Stop!” Kate says, pushing her back and giggling. “Chloe—”

“Sorry, sorry, I deal with heavy shit by making jokes, bad habit. Seriously, though.” Chloe clears her throat. “I’m really glad you told me. I’m not gonna tease you about it if you don’t want me to, I know it’s gotta be really hard on you.”

Kate sniffs, wiping her eyes. “A...a little easier now,” she admits. Chloe grabs a tissue from the nightstand and hands it to her so she can blow her nose. As she’s folding it up, she says, “Thank you. For caring, and, and asking. Nobody else has.”

“Have you let anyone else get close enough?” Chloe asks.

She’s too damn sharp. “No,” Kate murmurs. “I kinda locked myself in my room all summer, and me and my mom don’t get along that well anyway, I just...I’ve been hiding.”

“I know what that’s like. I was more violent about it, though. More the ‘yelling FUCK OFF at mom’ type, myself.” Chloe gives her another squeeze. “C’mon, I’m actually starving. Let’s go get something and figure out how to spend the rest of the day. I _do_ want that Voltage I put in the fridge, though.” She gets up and kneels down in front of the minifridge while Kate cleans herself up, then goes, “Woah, what the fuck? Did we have a minibar last night?”

“...no?” Kate says as she dumps the tissue in the trash.

“There’s a six-pack of my favorite beer in here!” Chloe says. “I didn’t bring this, and neither did Max…”

Kate gets a chill, remembering her vision this morning. “...Do you think Rachel might have dropped it off?”

Chloe looks back at her, shaking. “...must be,” she says softly. “But why didn’t she wake me up, or, or talk to me? Max said she was worried…” Chloe gulps. “I hope she’s okay.”

“...I do too,” Kate admits. “I was hoping you two were happy. Maybe it was stupid, but I wanted to see...that it could last, I guess.”

“I hope it can, Kate, I really fucking do.” Chloe looks back to the beer, giving it a forlorn look, then goes for the Voltage after all. “Come on. I can’t be worrying about this right now. With Rachel, I learned to just take what I can get a long time ago.”

Kate follows her out of the room, not sure if anything’s really been resolved yet. But it’s a little easier to deal with, knowing they have each others’ backs.

 


	4. Chapter 4

When they sit down to breakfast, Chloe lays out everything she knows about the supernatural world they’re now a part of — everything Rachel told her the night before. Kate listens somewhat distractedly, which is fine by Chloe because she’s not sure she actually understands what Max’s whole ghoul deal is either. As they’re finishing up the last of their free pastries, Chloe checks her phone. Still no reply to the texts she’s sent Rachel over the past day. Where could she be?

“Hey, um,” Chloe begins as Kate clears their dishes. “Before we figure out how we’re gonna spend today, I wanna see if I can get a hold of Rachel. I’m kinda...starting to freak out.”

Kate pales at the mention. “Oh, um,” she stammers, “Rachel...appeared to me, this morning.”

“To _you?_ ” Chloe says, fingers tensing.

“She—she’s not…” Kate bites her lip, arms starting to shake. “She wasn’t all there, when I saw her. She said she didn’t want you to see her like that.”

“To hell with that!” Chloe shouts, then lowers her volume once she remembers there are other people in the dining room — nobody who looks like they’re paying attention, but still. “She’s my girlfriend, and she’s just—”

“She told me to say she’ll see you soon. I’m sorry, that’s all I know, she disappeared right when you woke up,” Kate rushes out, looking embarrassed. “I’m sorry I didn’t say earlier, I just…”

Chloe remembers their talk earlier, and lets out a sigh. “Yeah. Lot on your mind. Sorry. Look, she lost the right to keep playing games with me a long time ago, like, when we moved in together. So I’m calling her.”

“All right,” Kate says, looking down. “I’m sorry again.”

“Not your fault. Or your problem. You got enough.” Chloe gives her a sly smirk. “You got both werewolf-ism and lesbianism all new in your life right now, you don’t need my relationship drama too.”

“I wanna help you, though. As much as I can.”

Chloe cocks her head. “You really are the last person anyone would suspect, huh?”

Kate laughs softly. “Some people would say that, I’m sure.”

Once their table is cleared, they head back up to their room, Chloe hanging outside of it while Kate heads in and flips on the television, looking for some kind of distraction, no doubt. This is not gonna be pretty.

Chloe grimaces, looking at her phone. This feels so goddamn retro. Pathetic angry phone call to Rachel after being left in the dust by her again, like she’s back in high school. But her therapist always says that communication is the key to a healthy relationship, so call she does.

It doesn’t ring, going straight to voicemail. Chloe grinds her teeth as Rachel’s prerecorded message begins.

“Hey, you’ve reached Rachel Amber, leave your message if you can’t leave a text!” Chloe drums her fingers on her jeans, waiting for the tone...and hears nothing. She gets almost a full minute of dead air before suddenly she hears clipping, as though a heavy wind is blowing into the receiver, before it all goes deathly silent again and she hears an indistinct, echoey “Hello?”

Chloe’s heart jumps. “Rachel?”

“Chloe?” Her voice starts to gain a bit of clarity, but the connection still sounds pretty bad. “Is everything all right?”

“No, it’s fucking not! What the hell, Rachel, you can’t just disappear like that on me!” Chloe fires off, anger flaring in her chest. “I coulda _really_ used someone who knows what the hell is going on while I’ve been saddled with keeping this poor girl from hurting someone on the first day I even know that werewolves are real!”

“Chloe—”

“You can’t do this to me, Rach!” Chloe continues, hating the note of desperation that comes into her voice. “After two _years_ of lying to me, the least you can do is keep being my like, partner? Like a girlfriend’s supposed to be?”

“I didn’t mean to go,” Rachel whispers, and the rawness in her voice stops Chloe in her tracks.

“What?”

“I didn’t tell you, did I? What happened to me, exactly. What I did to the person who killed me,” Rachel says softly.

“You—you said a vampire got you, but you didn’t want to go.”

“Y-yeah. One of Mark Jefferson’s assistants. Nathan. Victoria was his too, at the time.”

Chloe bristles, goosebumps running down her arms. “Wait, so, when Max went out looking for him—”

“Nathan got her too. Victoria saved her life. When me and her ran into each other again, Victoria decided she wanted out, so...we killed them. I killed Nathan myself. Put a stake through his heart and he crumbled to dust, just like I did when he drained me.” Rachel takes in a staggered breath. “Ever since then I’ve been...I don’t know how to describe it. Sometimes I’m just... _not._ Like right now, I’m not _anywhere._ It’s, it’s dark, and windy, and I feel static electricity in my hair. I can only hear your voice.”

Chloe’s heart stops. “You—you mean—”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know — I don’t _know_ what’s happening. I was able to control it, at first, you know? Like, I could feel it coming on and make sure that it happened when I was at school, so it’d just be an absence instead of like, disappearing while driving, but...they’ve been lasting longer and longer.” Rachel sniffs. “I don’t _wanna_ go, Chloe.”

Chloe slumps back against the wall, sliding down to sit, one hand tangling in her hair. A lump rises in her throat. “Rachel…”

“I think...ghosts are supposed to stick around for unfinished business, right? I got my revenge. But that wasn’t why I came back, I came back for you, I just wanted to forget it all. I thought...I thought I needed to stick around for you. I knew you needed me.”

“I still need you,” Chloe chokes out.

Rachel takes a few seconds to breathe and swallow before responding. “I don’t think you do, anymore.”

“Rach—”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense. W-when I came back, you were an unemployed dropout with nobody but me who believed in you, and...and I was so afraid that without me you’d get your hands on a gun and be gone. I didn’t want to reunite with you like that. You deserve so much more.” Rachel sucks in air. “But now...now you have Max, and Vic, and Steph, and if I’m gone they’ll all take care of you. You’ve got your GED, and your job, and you’re out of the Bay, and, and...and I’m not your angel anymore, I’m just your girlfriend.”

“You’re not ‘just’ anything, Rachel.” Chloe rubs at her eyes, trying to stop tears from forming. “Please come back.”

“I want to. I would if I could.” Rachel takes in a deep breath. “Listen, Chloe. Lunacy’s not just a crazy time for werewolves. It’s a time when spirituality is at its height, when the other side is close at hand. It’s calling me back. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to manifest full-time again.”

Chloe chokes back a sob.

“But I’m _never_ going to go away for good, okay? Never. And when this is over, I think we’ll be able to talk in person again.” Her breath shakes, and wind howls in the background of the phone call. “But I can’t talk much longer. I’m—I’m coming apart.”

Chloe grips her phone with both hands. “Rachel—”

“I love you.”

The message tone sounds.

Chloe lets the phone drop to her side, staring out at the unfairly bright California day, the only sound the cars rushing by on the freeway. Her chest feels hollow.

She stands, shaking, and opens the door to her and Kate’s room. Kate looks up from her phone, fingers tensing around it when she sees the expression on Chloe’s face.

“Chloe?” she asks cautiously as Chloe sinks to the bed.

“She’s fading out,” Chloe murmurs numbly, leaning forward with a hand on her forehead. “She’s going away.”

“Rachel?” Kate puts her phone down and sits up. “You mean…”

“Whatever brought her back is trying to take her away again. And she can’t stop it.” Chloe gulps in air. “Oh, God, what am I gonna do? I can’t—Kate, I know I’ve been mad at her, but I didn’t wanna lose her, I—What am I gonna do?” She looks to Kate, not sure what else to do, who to talk to. “What am I gonna do?” she pleads.

Before Kate can get words together, Chloe’s vision blurs, and her throat’s closing up, and her eyes are stinging, and she can’t hold it in anymore. She covers her face and sobs, chest aching for her girlfriend, the life she used to know, the world she used to think she lived in, the future she’d had in her head for two years, now all just stolen from her in two days of complete insanity.

She feels warm, hesitant arms encircle her, Kate’s nerves evident until Chloe clings back, their hold strengthening as Chloe rubs her face in Kate’s top. It feels easier to breathe here, as Kate moves one hand up to stroke Chloe’s hair.

“I don’t know what to do,” Chloe mumbles.

“You don’t have to,” Kate says softly. “I’m so sorry, Chloe.”

Chloe sniffs and hugs her tighter. “No, _I’m_ sorry, fuck. I’m supposed to be the tough bitch here, right?”

“That’s not how I think of you,” Kate says quietly. “I think — I think you’re kind, and smart, and doing your best.”

“But they left me in charge, and I’m—”

“Exactly who I need, right now,” Kate interrupts, fingers stopping their stroking and becoming tangled in Chloe’s hair. “I’ve been thinking — and I know this is weird — but when I was in here, I kept thinking about God, and what all of this means for my relationship with Him.”

Chloe pulls back and chuckles. “Not a place I really went to,” she admits.

“I know, but — I could let this destroy my faith. All of it. My feelings, and this curse, and this whole world I never knew existed before. But I still feel Him, Chloe,” Kate urges, moving her hands down to meet Chloe’s, squeezing them. “I feel like it’s fate that you found me, that I ran towards your end of town at just the right time for you to be the one to help me now. This is something we’re supposed to get through, together.”

“Well, I’m glad _you_ think there’s a reason for all this shit,” Chloe says, breaking the contact and wiping at her eyes. “I dunno, Kate, I just…”

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure if I’m helping.” Kate bites her lip. “I just...I know we’ll be okay, Chloe. As long as we’re together, we can make it through this.”

“When you say it, I can kinda believe it.” Chloe lays back on the bed and sighs, staring up at the ceiling. “She said after lunacy’s over, she’ll see me in person again. Maybe we can figure things out then.” There’s a pause, and then, “I wish she was here.”

“I know you do.” Kate sits down on the bed, putting a hand on Chloe’s knee. It’s starting to feel nice, all this touching. It reminds Chloe of being with Max, how natural it feels with her. And that just reminds her of Rachel teasing Chloe about her very obvious childhood-and-now-reignited crush on Max and she just grimaces.

“Can you, uh, get me one of those beers?” Chloe asks, raising herself up on her elbows. “Not gonna get wasted or anything, just want some downtime. Wanna check in with Max, too.”

“Sure.” Chloe scoots up to lay her head on the pillow and gratefully accepts the bottle when it gets to her, popping off the top with the opener on her keys. As Kate heads to her own bed, lying back and looking at the TV again, Chloe checks her phone. There’s a message from her shop about the closure, but not much else. She shoots off a text to Max.

**Me:**

_hey maxipad_

_ooh that nicknames even better now with the blood thing_

_is vic into that shit_

**Max:**

_I regret everything._

**Me:**

_sorry couldnt help myself_

Chloe chews on her lip for a moment, pondering whether to talk about Rachel. She looks over at Kate, who’s nervously twitching her feet and fidgeting, and decides that it can wait. Downtime matters. Her face already hurts, she doesn’t want to cry again. She decides to just send off _so anything going on i should know about rn?_

**Max:**

_Well, I’ve got good news. This month, lunacy’s only three days, so tonight’s your last night and then we can really start to work things out with you actually being in the city and Kate being, like, sentient._

_Bad news is that we have no idea who the rogue wolf is or where it is. Nobody’s come back to the RV, I’m actually staking it out right now with one of Steph’s girlfriends._

_Keep an eye on Kate tonight. Those other ghouls are backing you up in room 213 but she knows you best. Plus, nobody wants to kill a wolf if we don’t have to._

**Me:**

_thanks maxamillion_

_hey when this is over we should all just fuckin get a drink together and chill_

_i bet kate would love you_

**Max:**

_It’d be nice to just act like normal teenagers again, wouldn’t it?_

_I’ll be there, captain, you know I will. One more night._

 

* * *

 

After Chloe’s finished her beer and given herself some time for a short nap, exhausted from the _heavy_ morning she and Kate have shared, they busy themselves with getting ready for the night. There’s not really a grocery store nearby, so it’s a trek out to the nearest actual town.

For a while, they both choose to forget. They don’t bring up what the future after lunacy holds, Kate’s sexuality, Rachel’s disappearance. While they stock up for Kate’s next transformation, they instead talk about music, Chloe finally getting up the courage to play her Green Day with Kate in the car. Kate asks Chloe about what it’s like to design tattoos, and Chloe learns that Kate’s majoring in illustration herself, so of course they have to show each other their best work over lunch at McDonald’s after their grocery run.

It starts to feel like Chloe’s just on an impromptu vacation with the least likely new friend in the world by the time they get back to the hotel. They settle back into the room, minifridge stuffed to the gills, with three hours to spare ‘till moonrise.

Chloe scrolls through the selection of on-demand movies, figures that Steph will pay their bill for any of them, and asks Kate’s opinion. Kate tells her to pick, which Chloe warns her is a mistake, but she insists. So, Event Horizon it is.

Truth be told, Chloe had expected it to just gross Kate out, but she gets surprisingly into it, sitting up with wide eyes, her gaze unwaveringly on the screen. She jumps at the right times, screams at the right times, and Chloe sort of wishes they were on the same bed so they could share the moment a little more.

As the credits roll, Kate leans back with a satisfied sigh. “You know, I think that’s only my second R-rated movie,” she says, smiling softly. “Dana—my roommate, she showed me Bridesmaids, which I’m not sure counts.”

“Totally doesn’t count,” Chloe agrees. “Blood and guts or the rating’s a lie.”

Kate chuckles, then looks back to the screen. “That was really fun, actually,” she admits. “Somehow makes me feel a little better.”

“It’s catharsis, man,” Chloe says with all the confidence of a woman half-remembering something her girlfriend said while stoned. “Lets you get out your emotions that you’ve been bottling up in like, a safe way.”

“Y-yeah.” Kate bites her lip. “I’ve been really scared. About transforming again. But now…” She glances over at Chloe. “It’s not so bad, right? Transforming — I remember how it felt. It _hurt_. Did it look like it hurt?”

“Yeah,” Chloe tells her. “But you were fine after.”

“Exactly.” Kate breathes out. “I feel like I’m actually ready for tonight. I know you’ll take care of me.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen,” Chloe assures her. “Just another chill night with me, I promise.”

Kate smiles and looks down. “Thanks.”

“Anytime. Hey, mind if I order a pizza?”

“Go for it.”

They kill the time in silence on their phone until their food arrives. Just as Kate’s about to finish up her slice, she suddenly shudders and drops it on her lap.

“Kate?” Chloe asks.

Kate lets out a frustrated groan. “I hate wasting food,” she complains, carefully picking up the slice and looking at Chloe with glowing yellow eyes.

“Showtime, huh?” Chloe asks, setting her own slice down in the box, perched on the nightstand. “Well, you already tore the door off the bathroom, so go for it. I’ll get your food ready.”

“All right.” Kate gets up and stretched, glancing back at Chloe before she slips into the bathroom. “You’ll take care of me, right?”

“You know it.”

Kate gives a smile before she goes.

Chloe tries to ignore the cracking of bones and Kate’s screams as she changes, focusing on her task of getting her food ready. When the sounds stop, Chloe just tosses a slab at the doorway, and Kate’s giant head pokes into view and immediately snarfs it down. After three more, which she catches easily in mid-air, she stands up to her full height again and approaches Chloe. Chloe steels herself to be licked again, but instead Kate, in all her seven-foot furry glory, just hugs her half to death.

“Hey there, big girl,” Chloe murmurs affectionately, patting her back. “A little more here than last time, huh?”

Kate rubs the side of her face against Chloe’s head in answer. Then, to Chloe’s confusion, Kate freezes in her arms.

“Something up?” Chloe asks, stepping back. Kate’s ears are perked all the way up, and Chloe can make out something at the edge of her hearing too. Kate looks down at Chloe and holds up one finger, looking at the remaining turkey breasts sitting on the desk beside the minifridge. She grabs one in each hand, then approaches the door.

“Shit,” Chloe hisses. “Someone’s howling.”

Kate looks back at her and nods, then gestures out the door. Chloe gets out in front of her and opens it so she won’t destroy it, trying to keep herself calm. Kate seems to have a plan, at least.

As soon as Kate steps outside into the dying sunset light, another door on their level opens, and two slightly sickly-looking people emerge, a black man with shaved head and an Asian woman with black-and-red highlights, both wearing dark hoodies. Kate regards them, and they just sort of stare at her, hands at their hips.

“Did they give you guys silver bullets?” Chloe whispers as she closes the door behind her. The man nods. “Nice.”

“She seems calm,” the woman whispers back. “You must be Chloe. Brooke.”

“Mike,” the man supplies. “Should we…?” He pats his hidden holster.

“No, don’t shoot her, assholes!” Chloe hisses. Kate, for her part, rolls her eyes and jumps right off over the railing, then bolts off around the back of the building towards the mountain. “She’s chasing a —”

A howl interrupts Chloe, and she gestures in the vague direction it seemed to come from. “Yeah, that.”

Mike and Brooke look to each other. “No packs around here,” Brooke says. “Not enough hunting.”

“Gotta be the rogue,” Mike agrees.

“What should we do?” Chloe asks, leaning over the railing and checking out the parking lot. As she peers in the direction Kate went, she sees Kate’s head pop out from around the corner. What follows is the most bizarre, warbling bark Chloe’s ever heard. Kate maintains eye contact to a slight creepy degree.

“I think she wants us to follow her,” Chloe says.

“Oh, cool.” Mike leaps over the railing, and Brooke follows a second after. Chloe expects to hear cracks and screaming, but when she looks over they’re totally fine, running to meet Kate.

“What the hell, guys?” Chloe asks.

“Right, sorry, strength of the supernatural,” Brooke calls up. “We’ll wait.”

“Fuckin’ magical assholes,” Chloe mutters to herself as she sprints down the walkway towards the stairs, running down until they’ve met up with Kate at the back of the hotel. As soon as they can all see her she runs off again, forcing the three of them to keep up with her even as she seems to run right up the mountain with no difficulty. The howls get louder the longer they run, and Chloe’s getting incredibly grateful for her and Rachel’s cardio sessions by the time Kate stops, still a hundred feet ahead of them. The howl pierces Chloe’s ears, and the two ghouls stop in their tracks as well, clapping their hands to their heads.

By the time Chloe looks up, a mangy brown werewolf is on top of Kate.

Mike and Brooke have their guns out in a flash, but Chloe calls out “Don’t shoot!” as soon as she sees them. The two werewolves roll on the ground, snarling and slashing at each other, the turkey breasts left forgotten on the ground while they tussle.

“I can’t get a clear shot,” Brooke hisses. “If they’d—”

“You hit Kate and I’ll fuckin’ kill you,” Chloe warns as Kate seems to get the upper hand, pinning the other wolf to the ground with claws lodged in its shoulders. Kate looks at Chloe, then lets out a chuff and cocks her head in the direction of the discarded food. Chloe jumps to action, grabbing them and tossing one to Kate, who snatches it out of the air with one hand and proceeds to stuff it right into the other wolf’s mouth.

Chloe blanches, but Kate looks to her again, so she sends the other her way and flinches when the same thing happens again. Kate draws back a bit, staring down the other wolf but taking her claws out of its shoulders. And then, to Chloe’s utter shock, Kate speaks.

“Calm?” It’s barely comprehensible, her voice low and growly.

In response, the other wolf starts to let out a howl. Kate slaps it across the face. “ _CALM?”_ Kate shouts, and the wolf shrinks back and nods. Kate lets out a self-satisfied snort and stands up, then looks to the three people who chased her out here and gives them a terrifying sharp-toothed smile.

The other wolf rises to its feet, but stays hunched over, shaking and looking up in fear at Kate. Now that Chloe has a better view under the moonlight, she can see that though it’s taller than Kate, it looks much less healthy. It’s shockingly thin with patchy, matted, dirty fur, and the skin that shows looks straight-up sunburnt.

Kate grabs it by the scruff of its neck and starts dragging it back down the mountain, towards the lights of the hotel. Brooke and Mike look to each other and grimace.

“It is gonna be a nightmare getting them to give up the security footage,” Brooke complains. “I _told_ Steph we shoulda sprung for a cabin in the woods somewhere, but no, she said the hotel would be fine.”

“What do you think she’s gonna do with them?” Mike asks, looking to Chloe.

“Probably feed ‘em more?” Chloe says, shrugging. “One thing I know for sure, though.”

“What’s that?”

“That thing is sleeping in _your_ room.”


	5. Chapter 5

Kate wakes up wrapped around Chloe again, and this time, finds that she doesn’t mind it all that much.

She keeps her eyes closed,letting herself enjoy the moment. Chloe had made her feel so safe and calm the night before; it feels like that’s bleeding into this half-awake space she’s in, making her body feel light and warm beside Chloe’s in her bed.

She’s naked, and cuddling with a girl, and it feels nice. And that’s okay.

Until Rachel says, “Morning, sleepyheads.”

Kate opens her eyes and scrambles apart from Chloe, looking around to see Rachel leaning against the desk across from the bed, a sly smile on her lips. “R-Rachel!” she stammers as Chloe stirs beside her. “I’m—It’s not—”

“It’s a little bit what it looks like,” Rachel says with a laugh. “It’s okay, Kate.”

“Kate?” Chloe mumbles. “Who’re you talkin—”

As soon as Chloe opens her eyes, she bolts off the bed and slams right into Rachel, knocking her against the desk with the full force of her hug. 

“Hey, Chloe,” Rachel sighs.

“You’re back,” Chloe says with a sob, “I—I didn’t think I’d see you again—”

“I missed you too,” Rachel says softly, putting her head in Chloe’s shoulder. “So much.”

Kate starts to get the feeling she shouldn’t be here, and starts to head for the bathroom to change. As she gets last night’s discarded clothes on, she can only tell that Rachel and Chloe are whispering to one another, sweet nothings in the early morning, and it makes her heart ache, for reasons she can’t unpack just now.

As soon as she steps out, Rachel unexpectedly wraps her in a big hug, pressing Kate’s face into her chest.

“Thank you so much, Kate,” she says, stepping back with her hands on Kate’s shoulders.

“I didn’t do anything,” Kate mumbles, looking away.  _ Aside from get a crush on your girlfriend.  _

Rachel laughs. “You kept my girl sane.”

“As if that’s fucking possible!” Chloe exclaims. 

“Plus you caught the rogue wolf last night, so Victoria and Max are gonna be back in the clear,” Rachel adds.

“I  _ what? _ ”

“Dude, you were a total badass!” Chloe says, clapping her on the shoulder. “You just pinned ‘em down like it was nothing! The Mysta ghouls had them sleep in their room, we should go see what’s up.”

As Chloe heads for the door, Rachel leans down to whisper in Kate’s ear. “I watched, you know. When I could.”

Kate swallows. “A-and?”

“You helped her as much as she helped you. I’m glad you were here.” She hugs Kate again, then jogs up to the front of the room to join her girlfriend. Kate steels herself. Whatever she did last night, now it’s time to face it.

She follows Chloe and Rachel to the adjacent room, noticing the way Chloe reaches for Rachel’s hand, as though trying to hold her down to Earth. She feels a pang of jealousy in her gut, and stops to let it pass through her, like Chloe said. Fighting it is pointless. It’s a part of her. It has been for a long time, if she just admits it to herself.

This week has been too much, all at once. Maybe they’ll find some way to live normally after all of it.

Chloe knocks on the door, and a woman who looks very tired answers, raising her brows.

“He’s not really doing great,” she says before Chloe can get a word out. “And who’s that?” she adds, pointing at Rachel.

“Local poltergeist,” Rachel explains with a smile.

“Right, right,  _ that  _ one. Coven’s been talking about you forever.” The woman sighs. “All right, guess Kate should come in, at least. Maybe he’ll snap out of his shit then.”

“All yours, Kate,” Chloe offers, presenting the doorway to Kate. She takes a breath and walks in, to find an incredibly hairy and filthy brown-haired man curled up on the floor, covered by a hotel towel. As soon as Kate catches a whiff of him, the hair on the back of her neck stands up, and she finds herself staring down hard at him, looking for his eyes.

He turns to face her too, and as soon as they make eye contact he freezes in place, panting. He scrambles backwards a few steps on his hands.

“Y-you,” he stammers.

“I know you too,” Kate says, though she doesn’t know how. She gets the feeling he should be here, groveling at her feet. Like that’s his natural position in life.

“I—sh-shit, man, I don’t know what’s going on,” the man admits. “I just—I know, I think I know, what’s going on, but…”

Kate takes a step closer, and he freezes again. “How are you doing that?” he asks after he’s caught his breath.

“She beat the crap out of you and now you think of her as the pack leader, doofus,” the woman says, stepping up beside Kate. 

“Right, uh, cool, okay.” The man bites his lip. “I’m a werewolf. Right. You said that.”

Kate curls her nose. “I don’t wanna be a pack leader!”

“You don’t have to be, just an animal instinct thing kicking in,” the woman says with a sigh. “Hey, Mike, you got the Chief on the line yet?”

“Still a busy signal!” comes out of the bathroom. “Must still be hungover. Those wolves drink like fish during lunacy.”

“Right, yeah. Chief runs the nearest pack, a little ways out of here,” the woman says. “We figured you’re going to hook up with them next lunacy cycle, get your dynamics all sorted out.”

“I don’t want to join a pack, either,” Kate says, backing up. “I can’t just—abandon my life. I’m in school!”

“Well, then, how are we gonna make sure you’re under control?” the woman challenges. “We can’t just have a wolf—”

“Lay off for a sec, Brooke,” Chloe says, stepping into the room and sitting down on the bed. “First off, what’s going on with him? How’d he get bit? He explained himself yet? Hell, what’s his  _ name? _ ”

“I’m Frank,” the man says, gulping. “I was out in the sticks picking up some, uh, supplies. There was this bonfire I went to hang at—”

Brooke groans. “Fuck, of course it was the Arcata Bonfire incident…”

“I thought we cleaned up that mess,” Mike says, coming back into the room.

“So you know,” Frank says. “Yeah. Pack of wolves came down on us. I got away, got to my RV, but I got bit. I passed out halfway down the beach, thought I had a bad trip.” He puts a hand over his face. “Fuck, I ate my fuckin’ _ dog _ , man…”

Brooke grimaces. “Yeah, fresh wolves and pets, not a good combination.”

Kate shrinks back a bit, remembering Alice and trying not to let the guilt set in again. Not now. 

“I figured it out, after the first one. Thought I had it under control, I’d just knock myself out before sunset,” Frank explains. “Then yesterday I woke up naked in the middle of the desert, sunburnt to all hell, no clue what was going on…”

“The hell were you trying to knock yourself out with?” Brooke asks.

“...benzos?” Frank says, cringing.

“Good job, moron.” Brooke pinches her nose. “Well, you got loose in L.A. and bit Kate over there, so now we gotta find a way to deal with you two idiots.”

“Hey, Kate’s not an idiot!” Chloe objects. 

“Okay, fair,” Brooke says with a shrug, “Sorry, haven’t had blood in two days and I’m grumpy. So, what do you two wanna do? The Chief’s pack is a pretty good time, or so I hear. Hunts every month, communal living, big lodgehouse. Mostly dudes, though,” Brooke notes. 

“Sure, fuck it, man,” Frank says, shaking his head. “I just want my RV back.”

“We know where it is, and we can have Max drive it over,” Brooke says. “And then you’re cool with joining the Chief?”

“Sure, not like I got anything better to do,” Frank grumbles. “Fuck, man.”

Kate looks back and forth from Frank to Chloe, mind racing. Nothing about what Brooke’s been saying sounds like what she wants. She can’t let this tear her life apart, not when she’s been struggling so hard to keep it together, not before she has some kind of exit strategy. She can’t just up and vanish and give up everything. 

“So…” Kate begins, running her palms over the backs of her hands, “The—the reason I shouldn’t have had my first full moons in a city is because I wasn’t used to being a wolf yet, right?”

“Yeah,” Brooke says. “Too much new at once. Bad scene, as we all saw.”

“Can I...well…” Kate gulps. “Could I stay with Chloe again? Have her take care of me during the full moon?”

“You don’t wanna be part of a pack?” Mike asks. “Usually wolves wanna be with people like them right away, like an instinct.” 

Kate looks back at Chloe. “They  _ are  _ people like me. If...they’ll have me.”

“Babe?” Chloe asks, looking back at Rachel. “I mean, we’ve been talking about getting a dog lately…”

Rachel and Kate both giggle, and Rachel exclaims, “Chloe!”

“No, seriously, I’m up for it. Spend a couple nights a month in our place, chip in for the meat you eat…”

“I’d love that,” Rachel says, looking right at Kate and making her shiver with...something. The hairs on the back of her neck stand up. These werewolf senses are still a lot to get used to.

Brooke sighs. “Well, we can clear it with Steph tonight. I’ll let Max know to bring the RV up here, get this guy some clothes.”

“Hey, uh,” Frank says, looking at Kate, “...sorry. For biting you.”

Kate sighs. “It is what it is, now.”

“Yeah, but...sorry.”

“Next time don’t try and drown supernatural shit with drugs, moron,” Brooke says with a sigh. “All right, you guys can head back home. We’ll clean up the mess.”

“Don’t we always?” Mike asks.

“Steph owes us big-time. We  _ are  _ gonna run my campaign.”

“That’s your idea of a reward?”

While the two ghouls continue to bicker, Rachel cocks her head for the door, and Chloe and Kate follow her back out. Rachel relaxes against the railing, running a hand through her hair.

“I am so glad we’re gonna have a break,” she sighs. “Werewolf-hunting was such a pain. And trying to keep it secret.”

“You’re sure you’re okay with me staying with you?” Kate asks, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. “I don’t want to be a burden…”

“Lunacy is going to be a hard time for me, too. I got...caught off-guard, this time, by a lot of things, but I might not be able to be around,” Rachel admits. “Someone’s gotta keep Chloe company.”

“You talk about me like I’m a senile cat,” Chloe complains, elbowing her. She scratches the back of her neck. “So...Rachel, are you gonna...go away, someday?”  
“I don’t want to,” Rachel says, looking at her feet. 

“But if you’re having trouble... _ existing... _ what are we gonna do?”

“Not here,” Rachel murmurs. “Let’s — let’s get on the road, first. I need to think.”

“All right.” Chloe rubs Rachel’s shoulder, and Rachel gives her a kiss on the cheek before they return to the room to pack.

They return their room keys to the front desk on the way out and throw their supplies into the back of Chloe’s car. Rachel insists that Kate take the middle seat on the drive home because she’s the shortest, which means that now she’s sandwiched between two pairs of thighs and unable to concentrate on anything other than how nice that feels.

Kate hadn’t had much of a chance to see Rachel before she disappeared, and now...well, Kate’s having her  _ leanings  _ confirmed once again, The way Rachel keeps catching her eye, like there’s a secret shared between them, isn’t helping much of anything.

As they start down the highway, Chloe asks, “So...any clue what we’re supposed to do now?”

Rachel clears her throat. “I’m going to visit my parents. Show them...what I am now. I’ll write out a will. When I can’t...when I can’t fully manifest like this anymore, it’ll go into effect.” She bites her lip. “I’ll make sure they keep paying for the apartment. I want them to know that you’re the one I came back for. I’ll always love you.”

Chloe sniffs, wiping at her eyes. “Fuck, Rachel,” she says with a wet laugh. “I’m trying to drive.”

Rachel lays a hand on Kate’s knee, rubbing back and forth. “Kate, you know you’ll still transform a little tonight, right?”  
Kate nods, remembering what she read in the book. She can suppress it if she wants to, but it takes some strain, and when she’s sleeping she’ll definitely be hairy. She thinks she can handle that. At least she has a single.

“If you ever wanna let it all hang out, our place is always open,” Rachel offers. “If you’re gonna be spending nights at ours, I wanna get to know you.”

“You make us sound like a nudist colony,” Chloe bemoans.

“As if you’re not the one who goes full-on tits-out immediately after she gets home half the time.”

“Hey, no talk like that in front of Kate!” 

Kate laughs along with them, relaxing into Rachel’s side. It’s strange how after the last few days — the last few months, really — she can feel at ease here. There’s an uncertain future on the horizon that Rachel’s been insistently hinting at, but with Chloe by her side, she thinks she’ll handle it.

 

* * *

 

**Me:**

_ I’m so sorry for leaving you hanging for so long. _

_ It wasn’t fair of me, and I shouldn’t have let you suffer for my fears. _

_ Can we talk in person? _

**Dana:**

_ Oh, wow. Yeah, I’d love that. _

_ Where and when? _

 

* * *

 

Kate sets down her purse on the table, glancing around the tea shop for any sign of Dana. She made sure to arrive early, so of course Dana  _ shouldn’t  _ be here yet, but she can’t help worrying. This feels too important to mess up.

Dana arrives a few minutes later, and it’s been so long that Kate had almost forgotten how tall and pretty she was. Damn. She stands at the door, looking around until Kate raises a hand into the air and beckons her over. As Dana starts to head for her, Kate gets a sudden urge and decides to just let it happen, rising and pulling Dana into a long hug.

“Uh, hi to you too,” Dana says, pulling back and blushing. 

“Sorry,” Kate says, though she’s smiling. She sits down, fiddling with her hair. “Been a bit of a weird month. I’m really glad to see you.”

“I’m glad, I think.” Dana cautiously takes the seat across from her. She clears her throat. “So…”

Kate swallows. “I shouldn’t have ghosted you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“But I thought…” Dana chews on her lower lip. “I’d kinda had a crush on you forever, and I never even told you I was bi, it—”

“ _ I  _ kissed  _ you,  _ Dana,” Kate interrupts, giving her a sideways smile. “And then I did it a few more times before you got the hint.”

Dana chuckles weakly. “Okay, y-yeah, good point.”   


Kate licks her lips, trying to remember the script she’d practiced in her head. “I wasn’t...ready to admit it to myself. I didn’t know how to deal with it. I knew something was different about me, and the way I felt about you, for a long time, but when it actually became real...I panicked. And I really hurt you.”

Dana looks down at her lap. “It was really hard,” she admits. “But why are we talking now? Do you want to...like, actually…”

“I do want to, kind of,” Kate admits. “But I can’t. Not because of anything you did, or, or because I don’t like you anymore. But like I said, it’s been a really,  _ really  _ weird month. I...met someone.”

Dana raises her eyebrows. “Oh?”

“I developed a...medical condition, recently. She’s been the one helping me through it. It sort of limits the things I can do,” Kate explains. “Things between us are a little complicated, too. But I didn’t want to meet with you because of that, I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry, you weren’t imagining anything and you didn’t do anything wrong. We can’t be together, but...I’d like to be friends again, at least. You deserve that much.” Kate reaches across the table and takes Dana’s hand. “I’m sorry about all this.”

“It’s all right. I know with your family, it was probably a lot for you to deal with.” Dana’s fingers flex in hers. “I was worried I’d corrupted you or something, or you thought I had.”

“I was always blaming myself. Never you.” Kate sighs. “What do you say we actually order some tea and catch up for a while?”   


“That sounds lovely.”

 

* * *

 

Kate follows Chloe and Rachel into the apartment, feeling her skin beginning to itch. She’s getting more familiar with the signs of transformation, though the first night she was back in her dorm and she suddenly grew fuzzy ears had been a shock. Sunset’s coming soon, and she’s ready for another lunacy period.

Rachel collapses against the kitchen counter as soon as they’re inside, her eyes closing. Chloe goes to her side, putting a hand on her shoulder. When Rachel’s eyes open again, they glow a bright green right into Kate’s.

“You feel it, don’t you?” she asks. Kate nods. Rachel turns to Chloe. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?” 

“Yeah,” Chloe says through a lump in her throat. 

“Come here.” Rachel hugs Chloe tight, then beckons over Kate, squeezing them both tight in her arms. “Take care of her for me, all right?”

“I will,” Kate promises. 

“All right.” Rachel lets out a long sigh, and suddenly she’s no longer there, Kate and Chloe falling into each other without her body to block them. 

Kate holds onto Chloe for a moment, letting her bury her head in Kate’s shoulder. “God, it was bad enough when she stopped going to school,” Chloe mutters, taking in a harsh breath. She pulls back and looks at Kate. “Oh, uh. Better go get undressed, Sith-eyes.”

Kate smooths a hand down Chloe’s shoulder. “Will you be okay?”

“I’ve...been handling it. Besides, you’re a great therapy animal.” Chloe gives her a cocked smile. “Come on, don’t wreck your clothes.”

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

“‘Course.”

 

* * *

 

Kate finds that she likes waking up in Chloe’s bed, her head laid on her chest. As she stirs, so does Chloe, and Kate realizes that Chloe’s hand is resting on her bare back, slowly stroking up and down.

“Hey, girl,” Chloe murmurs sleepily, her eyes half-lidded as Kate raises her gaze to look at her. “Good nap?”

“Mhm.” Kate should be getting up. Covering up. Not just laying here and looking at Chloe’s pretty eyes and tingling from her touch. She starts to get up, but only gets so far as raising herself on one elbow before she stops again, distracted by the way Chloe’s hand moves down her spine. Their eyes are locked. 

Kate remembers this feeling.

There’s a moment of pause, Chloe’s lips parted slightly, a worry in her eye. And then Kate hears a whisper in her ear.

_ Just kiss her, stupid. _

Chloe and Kate both jump at the same time, looking about the room in a panic. Chloe clears her throat, hand tensed on Kate’s back.

“Did you hear her, too?” she asks, breathless.

“Yeah.”

Chloe swallows. “Well...who am I to defy the will of the spirits?” she asks, a nervous chuckle in her voice. Kate lets out a little laugh of her own, heart pounding, as she leans forward. 

She remembers this feeling, too.

But not the electric sensation on the back of her neck. Rachel’s presence isn’t quite physical, but she knows a kiss when she feels one. 

As Chloe pulls Kate flush against her, she feels that she might have found her place at last.


End file.
